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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

FORM 8-K

 

 

 

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

 

 

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported):

February 3, 2003

 

 

 

CONTINENTAL AIRLINES, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Delaware

1-10323

74-2099724

(State or other jurisdiction

(Commission File Number)

(IRS Employer

of incorporation)

  

Identification No.)

 

1600 Smith Street, Dept. HQSEO, Houston, Texas

77002

(Address of principal executive offices)

(Zip Code)

(713) 324-2950

(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)

Item 5. Other Events.

On February 3, 2003, we issued a press release announcing our January performance and our estimated consolidated breakeven load factor for February. The press release is filed herewith as Exhibit 99.1 and is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 7. Financial Statements and Exhibits.

    1. Exhibits

      1. Press Release

 

 

SIGNATURE

 

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Continental Airlines, Inc. has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
 

CONTINENTAL AIRLINES, INC.

 

 

February 3, 2003

By /s/ Jennifer L. Vogel                           
 

Jennifer L. Vogel
 

Vice President and General Counsel

 

 

EXHIBIT INDEX

 

99.1

Press Release

 

 

 

 
News Release

EXHIBIT 99.1

News Release

Contact: Corporate Communications

Houston: 713.324.5080

Email: corpcomm@coair.com

News archive: continental.com/news/ Address: P.O. Box 4607, Houston, TX 77210-4607

CONTINENTAL AIRLINES REPORTS

OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE FOR JANUARY 2003

HOUSTON, Feb. 3, 2003 - Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) today reported a January 2003 systemwide mainline jet load factor of 68.0 percent, 2.1 points below last year's January load factor. The January 2003 domestic mainline jet load factor was 67.7 percent and the international mainline jet load factor was 68.4 percent.

The airline reported a domestic on-time arrival rate of 85.4 percent and a systemwide completion factor of 99.8 percent for its mainline jet operations in January 2003.

In January 2003, Continental flew 4.4 billion mainline jet revenue passenger miles (RPMs) and 6.5 billion mainline jet available seat miles (ASMs) systemwide, resulting in a traffic decrease of 0.9 percent and a capacity increase of 2.1 percent as compared to January 2002. Domestic mainline jet traffic was 2.6 billion RPMs in January 2003, down 3.1 percent from January 2002, and January 2003 domestic mainline jet capacity was 3.8 billion ASMs, down 2.6 percent from January 2002.

Systemwide January 2003 mainline jet passenger revenue per available seat mile (RASM) is estimated to have increased between 2 and 4 percent compared to January 2002. For December 2002, RASM increased 10.1 percent as compared to December 2001.

Consolidated breakeven load factor for February 2003 is estimated to be 79 percent. Consolidated breakeven load factor for January 2003 is estimated to have been 82 percent. Actual consolidated breakeven load factor may vary significantly from these estimates depending on actual passenger revenue yields, fuel price and other factors. Month-to-date consolidated load factor information can be found on Continental's website at continental.com in the Investor Relations-Financial/Traffic Releases section.

-more-

JANUARY 2003 PERFORMANCE/PAGE 2

ExpressJet Airlines, a subsidiary of Continental Airlines doing business as Continental Express, separately reported a record January load factor of 56.4 percent for January 2003, 2.1 points above last year's January load factor. ExpressJet flew 327.8 million RPMs and 581.2 million ASMs in January 2003, resulting in a traffic increase of 25.5 percent and a capacity increase of 20.9 percent versus January 2002.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that are not limited to historical facts, but reflect the Company's current beliefs, expectations or intentions regarding future events. All forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. For examples of such risks and uncertainties, please see the risk factors set forth in the Company's 2001 10-K and its other securities filings, which identify important matters such as terrorist attacks, domestic and international economic conditions, the significant cost of aircraft fuel, labor costs, competition, regulatory matters and industry conditions, including the demand for air travel, the airline pricing environment and industry capacity decisions. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this press release.

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JANUARY 2003 PERFORMANCE/PAGE 3

PRELIMINARY TRAFFIC RESULTS

JANUARY

  

2003   

2002   

Change   

REVENUE PASSENGER MILES (000)

    
 

Domestic

2,595,941

2,679,434

(3.1) Percent
         
 

International

1,794,530

1,752,062

2.4  Percent
 

Transatlantic

701,812

660,888

6.2  Percent 
 

Latin America

689,822

684,536

0.8  Percent 
 

Pacific

402,895

406,639

(0.9) Percent 
         
 

Total Jet

4,390,471

4,431,496

(0.9) Percent
         
 

ExpressJet

327,774

261,115

25.5  Percent
         

AVAILABLE SEAT MILES (000)

    
 

Domestic

3,833,075

3,936,649

(2.6) Percent
         
 

International

2,622,835

2,388,258

9.8  Percent
 

Transatlantic

1,057,013

943,491

12.0 Percent 
 

Latin America

949,120

895,375

6.0 Percent 
 

Pacific

616,702

549,392

12.3 Percent 
         
 

Total Jet

6,455,910

6,324,906

2.1 Percent 
         
 

ExpressJet

581,201

480,841

20.9  Percent 
         

PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR

    
 

Domestic

67.7 Percent

68.1 Percent

(0.4) Points
         
 

International

68.4 Percent

73.4 Percent

(5.0) Points
 

Transatlantic

66.4 Percent 

70.0 Percent 

(3.6) Points 
 

Latin America

72.7 Percent 

76.5 Percent 

(3.8) Points 
 

Pacific

65.3 Percent 

74.0 Percent 

(8.7) Points 
         
 

Total Jet

68.0 Percent

70.1 Percent

(2.1) Points
         
 

ExpressJet

56.4 Percent

54.3 Percent

2.1  Points
         

CARGO REVENUE TON MILES (000)

    
 

Total

70,082

60,967

15.0  Percent

 

-more-

JANUARY 2003 PERFORMANCE/PAGE 3

PRELIMINARY OPERATIONAL AND FINANCIAL RESULTS

JANUARY

  

2003 

2002 

Change  

On-Time Performance1

85.4%

83.8%

1.6  Points
         

Completion Factor2

99.8%

99.8%

-  Points
       
         
     

December 2002 actual consolidated breakeven load factor3

76.1  Percent
         

January 2003 estimated year-over-year RASM change

2-4 Percent
         

January 2003 estimated average price per gallon of fuel,

                           excluding fuel taxes

90.0 Cents   
         

January 2003 estimated consolidated breakeven load factor3

82 Percent
         

January 2003 actual consolidated load factor4

67.0  Percent
         

February 2003 estimated consolidated breakeven load factor3

79 Percent
 

YEAR-OVER-YEAR RASM5

2002 vs. 2001

2002 vs. 2000

  

May

(6.3) Percent

(15.1) Percent

  

June

(5.5) Percent

(15.5) Percent

  

July

(4.0) Percent

(13.5) Percent

  

August

(2.7) Percent

(15.2) Percent

  

September

10.8  Percent

(17.6) Percent

  

October

9.3  Percent

(15.7) Percent

  

November

(1.7) Percent

(18.4) Percent

  

December

10.1 Percent

(5.7) Percent

  
 

2003 vs. 2002

2003 vs. 2001

  

January (estimated)

2-4 Percent

(10-12) Percent

  

1 Department of Transportation Arrivals within 14 minutes

2 System Mileage Completion Percentage

3 Consolidated load factor (including Continental Airlines and Continental Express) needed to break even on a

consolidated net income basis

4 Includes Continental Airlines and Continental Express

5 CAL has been releasing RASM data since May 2001

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