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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):

April 1, 2002

 

 

CONTINENTAL AIRLINES, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Delaware

0-09781

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 April 1, 2002, Continental Airlines, Inc. issued a press release announcing its March operational performance. 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.

 

 

By /s/ Jennifer L. Vogel                           

Jennifer L. Vogel

Vice President and General Counsel

April 1, 2002

EXHIBIT INDEX

 

    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 RECORD MARCH 2002 OPERATIONAL AND IMPROVED FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE

Provides guidance on performance trend needed to reach profitability in second quarter

HOUSTON, April 1, 2002 - Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) today reported a record systemwide March load factor of 79.4 percent, 4.1 points above last year's load factor. Continental reported a record domestic March load factor of 77.5 percent and a record international March load factor of 82.8 percent. Easter falling in March this year, in contrast to mid-April in 2001, contributed to the load factor increases over March 2001.

Continental reported an on-time arrival rate of 84.8 percent and a completion factor of 99.9 percent for March 2002.

In March 2002, Continental flew 5.4 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs) systemwide and 6.7 billion available seat miles (ASMs), resulting in a traffic decrease of 5.4 percent and a capacity decrease of 10.4 percent versus March 2001. Domestic traffic was 3.3 billion RPMs, down 4.9 percent from March 2001, and domestic capacity was 4.2 billion ASMs, down 8.8 percent from March last year.

Lower year-over-year yields, mitigated somewhat by higher load factors, resulted in a decrease in estimated systemwide passenger revenue per available seat mile (RASM) of between 6 and 8 percent for March 2002, as compared to March 2001. For February 2002, RASM declined 11.0 percent as compared to February 2001. Preliminary data indicates that the company achieved profitability for the first time since September 11 during the month of March. The company expects, however, to report a significant loss for the first quarter of 2002.

 

CONTINENTAL AIRLINES REPORTS MARCH TRAFFIC/PAGE 2

Continental expects to report that it ended the first quarter with a cash balance of approximately $1.2 billion, which includes $147 million of restricted cash related to a pre-funded aircraft financing.

"We are pleased that we achieved profitability in March but we continue to be concerned about higher fuel prices and RASM weakness due to capacity increases by many of our competitors," said Jeff Misner, Sr. Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

While recent monthly RASM performance trends have improved, those trends will need to continue to improve for Continental to attain profitability in the second quarter of 2002. The estimated year-over-year RASM needed to break even for the second quarter, assuming successful completion of the ExpressJet initial public offering, is a decrease of approximately 1 percent or less on a year-over-year basis for the full quarter, or a year-over-year RASM decrease of 8 percent in April, an increase of 2 percent in May and an increase of 4 percent in June. These estimates are based on an expected increase in CASM of two percent holding fuel rate constant and assuming an average fuel price of 71 cents. Based on current fuel price and revenue trends, the company's ability to achieve profitability in the second quarter will be challenging.

Continental said it expects to receive a federal income tax refund of approximately $39 million in the second quarter. This amount represents certain alternative minimum tax payments previously paid by Continental and due to be refunded under recent legislation.

Continental Express, a wholly owned subsidiary of Continental Airlines, reported a load factor of 63.1 percent for March 2002, 0.6 points above last year's March load factor. Continental Express flew 315.7 million RPMs and 500.2 million ASMs in March 2002, resulting in a traffic increase of 13.7 percent and a capacity increase of 12.6 percent versus March 2001.

 

 

CONTINENTAL AIRLINES REPORTS MARCH TRAFFIC/PAGE 3

Please note that the foregoing contains forward-looking statements that are not limited to historical facts, but reflect the company's current beliefs, expectations or intentions regarding future events. Actual results could differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are contained in the company's form 10K and other securities filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, such as terrorist attacks and the resulting regulatory developments and costs, our recent operating losses and special charges, our high leverage and significant financing needs, our historical operating results, the significant cost of aircraft fuel, labor costs, certain tax matters, the Japanese economy and currency risk, competition and industry conditions, regulatory matters and the seasonal nature of the airline business.

 

 

 

 

CONTINENTAL AIRLINES REPORTS MARCH TRAFFIC/PAGE 4

PRELIMINARY TRAFFIC RESULTS

MARCH

  

2002

2001

Change

REVENUE PASSENGER MILES (000)

    
 

Domestic

3,283,340

3,452,953

(4.9) Percent
         
 

International

2,075,023

2,212,838

(6.2) Percent
 

Transatlantic

845,368

923,523

(8.5) Percent
 

Latin America

750,533

720,658

4.1  Percent
 

Pacific

479,121

568,658

(15.7) Percent
         
 

Total Jet

5,358,363

5,665,791

(5.4) Percent
         
 

Cont'l. Express

315,703

277,613

13.7  Percent
         

AVAILABLE SEAT MILES (000)

    
 

Domestic

4,238,806

4,648,103

(8.8) Percent
         
 

International

2,505,842

2,876,094

(12.9) Percent
 

Transatlantic

1,002,754

1,160,826

(13.6) Percent
 

Latin America

941,981

982,487

(4.1) Percent
 

Pacific

561,107

732,781

(23.4) Percent
         
 

Total Jet

6,744,648

7,524,197

(10.4) Percent
         
 

Cont'l. Express

500,243

444,446

12.6  Percent
         

PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR

    
 

Domestic

77.5 Percent

74.3 Percent

3.2  Points
         
 

International

82.8 Percent

76.9 Percent

5.9  Points
 

Transatlantic

84.3 Percent

79.6 Percent

4.7 Points
 

Latin America

79.7 Percent

73.4 Percent

6.3  Points
 

Pacific

85.4 Percent

77.6 Percent

7.8  Points
         
 

Total Jet

79.4 Percent

75.3 Percent

4.1  Points
         
 

Cont'l. Express

63.1 Percent

62.5 Percent

0.6  Points
         

CARGO REVENUE TON MILES (000)

    
 

Total

80,115

91,848

(12.8) Percent

 

 

CONTINENTAL AIRLINES REPORTS MARCH TRAFFIC /PAGE 5

YEAR-TO-DATE

  

2002

2001

Change

REVENUE PASSENGER MILES (000)

    
 

Domestic

8,593,938

9,330,120

(7.9) Percent
         
 

International

5,438,424

5,783,662

(6.0) Percent
 

Transatlantic

2,117,007

2,331,622

(9.2) Percent
 

Latin America

2,051,657

2,082,771

(1.5) Percent
 

Pacific

1,269,760

1,369,269

(7.3) Percent
         
 

Total Jet

14,032,362

15,113,782

(7.2) Percent
         
 

Cont'l. Express

834,907

733,373

13.8  Percent
         

AVAILABLE SEAT MILES (000)

    
 

Domestic

11,869,354

13,402,083

(11.4) Percent
         
 

International

7,087,052

8,056,342

(12.0) Percent
 

Transatlantic

2,809,827

3,366,764

(16.5) Percent
 

Latin America

2,657,972

2,864,695

(7.2) Percent
 

Pacific

1,619,253

1,824,883

(11.3) Percent
         
 

Total Jet

18,956,406

21,458,425

(11.7) Percent
         
 

Cont'l. Express

1,423,775

1,289,068

10.4  Percent
         

PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR

    
 

Domestic

72.4 Percent

69.6 Percent

2.8  Points
         
 

International

76.7 Percent

71.8 Percent

4.9  Points
 

Transatlantic

75.3 Percent

69.3 Percent

6.0 Points
 

Latin America

77.2 Percent

72.7 Percent

4.5  Points
 

Pacific

78.4 Percent

75.0 Percent

3.4  Points
         
 

Total Jet

74.0 Percent

70.4 Percent

3.6  Points
         
 

Cont'l. Express

58.6 Percent

56.9 Percent

1.7  Points
         

CARGO REVENUE TON MILES (000)

    
 

Total

208,083

252,842

(17.7) Percent

 

 

CONTINENTAL AIRLINES REPORTS MARCH TRAFFIC /PAGE 6

PRELIMINARY OPERATIONAL RESULTS

MARCH

  

2002

2001

Change

On-Time Performance*

84.8%

77.9%

6.9  Points
         

Completion Factor**

99.9%

98.2%

1.7  Points
       
         

YEAR-TO-DATE

  

2002

2001

Change

On-Time Performance*

85.2%

79.5%

5.7  Points
         

Completion Factor**

99.9%

98.7%

1.2  Points
       
         
         

PRELIMINARY RASM CHANGE AND FUEL PRICE
         

March 2002 estimated year-over-year RASM Change

(6-8) Percent
         

March 2002 estimated average price per gallon of fuel,

                           excluding fuel taxes

62 Cents
         

* Department of Transportation Arrivals within 14 minutes

** System Mileage Completion Percentage

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