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 2, 2004 |
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 2, 2004, 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.
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 2, 2004 |
By /s/ Jennifer L. Vogel |
Jennifer L. Vogel |
|
Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary |
EXHIBIT INDEX |
99.1 |
Press Release |
EXHIBIT 99.1
News Release
Contact:
Corporate CommunicationsHouston: 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 2004
HOUSTON, Feb. 2, 2004 - Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) today reported a record January systemwide mainline load factor of 71.4 percent, 3.5 points above last year's January load factor. In addition, the airline had a record
January domestic mainline load factor of 69.5 percent, 1.8 points above January 2003, and a record international mainline load factor of 74.1 percent, 5.8 points above January 2003.During the month, Continental recorded a U.S. Department of Transportation on-time arrival rate of 79.9 percent and a systemwide mainline completion factor of 99.3 percent.
In January 2004, Continental flew
4.8 billion mainline revenue passenger miles(RPMs) and
6.7 billion mainline available seat miles (ASMs) systemwide, resulting in atraffic increase of
8.5 percent and a capacity increase of 3.2 percent as compared toJanuary 2003. Domestic mainline traffic was
2.7 billion RPMs in January 2004, up 5.1 percent from January 2003, and domestic mainline capacity was 3.9 billion ASMs, up 2.3 percent from January 2003.Systemwide January 2004 passenger revenue per available seat mile (RASM) is estimated to have increased between 0.5 and 1.5 percent compared to January 2003. For December 2003, RASM increased
1.7 percent as compared to December 2002.Continental's regional operations (Continental Express) set a record
January load factor of 61.3 percent, 4.9 points above last year's January load factor. RegionalRPMs were
470.0 million and regional ASMs were 766.9 million in January 2004, resulting in a traffic increase of 43.4 percent and a capacity increase of 31.9 percent versus January 2003.
Continental Airlines is the world's seventh-largest airline with more than 2,300 daily departures to 126 domestic and 101 international destinations throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. With 42,000 mainline employees, the airline has hubs serving New York, Houston, Cleveland and Guam, and carries approximately 51 million passengers per year. FORTUNE ranks Continental one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America, an honor it has earned for six consecutive years. FORTUNE ranked the company highest among major U.S. carriers in the quality of its service and products, and No. 2 on its list of Most Admired Global Airlines in 2003. For more company information, visit continental.com.
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 2002 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 d ate of this press release.
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PRELIMINARY TRAFFIC RESULTS
JANUARY |
2004 |
2003 |
Change |
||
REVENUE PASSENGER MILES (000) |
|||||
Domestic |
2,727,792 |
2,596,084 |
5.1 Percent |
||
International |
2,034,454 |
1,792,390 |
13.5 Percent |
||
Transatlantic |
801,672 |
702,131 |
14.2 Percent |
||
Latin America |
744,117 |
689,915 |
7.9 Percent |
||
Pacific |
488,665 |
400,344 |
22.1 Percent |
||
Mainline |
4,762,247 |
4,388,474 |
8.5 Percent |
||
Regional |
470,015 |
327,776 |
43.4 Percent |
||
AVAILABLE SEAT MILES (000) |
|||||
Domestic |
3,922,284 |
3,834,758 |
2.3 Percent |
||
International |
2,746,284 |
2,624,059 |
4.7 Percent |
||
Transatlantic |
1,111,023 |
1,056,545 |
5.2 Percent |
||
Latin America |
1,001,845 |
950,011 |
5.5 Percent |
||
Pacific |
633,416 |
617,503 |
2.6 Percent |
||
Mainline |
6,668,568 |
6,458,817 |
3.2 Percent |
||
Regional |
766,890 |
581,201 |
31.9 Percent |
||
PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR |
|||||
Domestic |
69.5 Percent |
67.7 Percent |
1.8 Points |
||
International |
74.1 Percent |
68.3 Percent |
5.8 Points |
||
Transatlantic |
72.2 Percent |
66.5 Percent |
5.7 Points |
||
Latin America |
74.3 Percent |
72.6 Percent |
1.7 Points |
||
Pacific |
77.1 Percent |
64.8 Percent |
12.3 Points |
||
Mainline |
71.4 Percent |
67.9 Percent |
3.5 Points |
||
Regional |
61.3 Percent |
56.4 Percent |
4.9 Points |
||
CARGO REVENUE TON MILES (000) |
|||||
Total |
75,636 |
70,087 |
7.9 Percent |
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PRELIMINARY OPERATIONAL AND FINANCIAL RESULTS
JANUARY |
2004 |
2003 |
Change |
||
On-Time Performance1 |
79.9% |
85.4% |
(5.5) Points |
||
Completion Factor2 |
99.3% |
99.8% |
(0.5) Points |
||
December 2003 consolidated breakeven load factor3,4 |
61.4 Percent |
||||
January 2004 estimated year-over-year RASM change |
0.5-1.5 Percent |
||||
January 2004 estimated average price per gallon of fuel,excluding fuel taxes |
96.0 Cents |
||||
January 2004 estimated consolidated breakeven load factor3 |
81 Percent |
||||
January 2004 actual consolidated load factor5 |
70.4 Percent |
||||
February 2004 estimated consolidated breakeven load factor3 |
78 Percent |
||||
YEAR-OVER-YEAR SYSTEM RASM6 |
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 |
3.5 Percent |
(11.0) Percent |
|||
February |
(0.4) Percent |
(11.3) Percent |
|||
March |
(11.7) Percent |
(17.4) Percent |
|||
April |
(1.0) Percent |
(11.3) Percent |
|||
May |
2.0 Percent |
(4.3) Percent |
|||
June |
0.3 Percent |
(5.2) Percent |
|||
July |
4.9 Percent |
0.7 Percent |
|||
August |
4.4 Percent |
1.5 Percent |
|||
September |
5.3 Percent |
16.7 Percent |
|||
October |
4.4 Percent |
14.1 Percent |
|||
November |
5.5 Percent |
3.7 Percent |
|||
December |
1.7 Percent |
12.0 Percent |
|||
2004 vs. 2003 |
2004 vs. 2002 |
||||
January (estimated) |
0.5-1.5 Percent |
3.5-4.5 Percent |
1
Department of Transportation Arrivals within 14 minutes2
System Mileage Completion Percentage3
Consolidated load factor (including Continental Airlines and Continental Express) needed to break even on a consolidated net incomebasis. Actual consolidated breakeven load factor may vary significantly from 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.
4
Included in the consolidated breakeven load factor are the following special items, which account for 12.6 percentage points: 1) net gainon the sale of investment in Orbitz, 2) fair value adjustment of remaining investment in Orbitz following Orbitz's IPO, 3) revenue
adjustment for change in expected redemption of frequent flyer mileage credits sold, and 4) lease exit costs for permanently grounded
MD-80 aircraft.
5
Includes Continental Airlines and Continental Express6
CAL has been releasing RASM data since May 2001###