News Release
Continental Airlines Reports Operational Performance for the First 15 Days Of November
HOUSTON, November 16, 2001 -- For the first 15 days of November 2001, Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) today reported a 70.0 percent domestic and 65.5 percent international load factor for a systemwide load factor of 68.4 percent. The systemwide load factor is 1.8 points below the 70.2 percent load factor reported for the comparable period in 2000.
Continental's on-time arrival rate was 90.1 percent, and its completion factor was 99.4 percent for the first 15 days of November.
During the first 15 days of November 2001, Continental flew 2.1 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs) and 3.0 billion available seat miles (ASMs), resulting in a traffic decrease of 18.0 percent and a capacity decrease of 15.8 percent versus the corresponding period in November 2000. Domestic traffic was 1.4 billion RPMs, down 13.6 percent from the comparable November 2000 period, and domestic capacity was 1.9 billion ASMs, down 13.4 percent from the same period last year.
A decrease in systemwide load factor and low yields resulted in a decrease in estimated systemwide passenger revenue per available seat mile (RASM) of between 21 and 23 percent for the first 15 days of November 2001, as compared to the first 15 days of November 2000. October 2001 systemwide RASM declined 23 percent, compared to October 2000.
Continental Express, a wholly owned subsidiary of Continental Airlines, reported a load factor of 60.4 percent for the first 15 days of November, 1.8 points above the comparable period last year. Continental Express flew 137.1 million RPMs and 227.0 million ASMs the first 15 days of November, resulting in a traffic increase of 7.2 percent and a capacity increase of 3.9 percent versus the same period in November 2000.
Thanksgiving Travel
Bookings for Thanksgiving travel remain strong and load factors on peak days are anticipated to be similar to last year.
Weekly Statistics
The following table summarizes Continental's year-over-year load factor difference for the last four weeks on a same day-of-week basis.
PRELIMINARY YEAR-OVER-YEAR LOAD FACTOR DIFFERENCE
Oct. 15-21 Oct. 22-28 Oct. 29 - Nov. 4 Nov. 5-12
PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR
Domestic 1.4 Points 2.8 Points 0.5 Points (0.5) Points
International (13.1) Points (11.9) Points (9.4) Points (4.7) Points
Total Jet (4.2) Points (2.9) Points (3.2) Points (2.0) Points
Cont'l. Express 1.9 Points 4.1 Points 1.3 Points 2.2 Points
PRELIMINARY TRAFFIC RESULTS
NOVEMBER 1-15, 2001 2001 2000 Change
REVENUE PASSENGER MILES (000)
Domestic 1,357,045 1,571,448 (13.6) Percent
International 701,122 937,755 (25.2) Percent
Transatlantic 328,973 450,750 (27.0) Percent
Latin America 242,421 297,999 (18.7) Percent
Pacific 129,728 189,005 (31.4) Percent
Total Jet 2,058,168 2,509,203 (18.0) Percent
Cont'l. Express 137,102 127,889 7.2 Percent
AVAILABLE SEAT MILES (000)
Domestic 1,938,022 2,238,265 (13.4) Percent
International 1,069,641 1,334,461 (19.8) Percent
Transatlantic 473,409 624,808 (24.2) Percent
Latin America 362,626 442,679 (18.1) Percent
Pacific 233,606 266,974 (12.5) Percent
Total Jet 3,007,663 3,572,726 (15.8) Percent
Cont'l. Express 226,951 218,364 3.9 Percent
PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR
Domestic 70.0 Percent 70.2 Percent (0.2) Points
International 65.5 Percent 70.3 Percent (4.8) Points
Transatlantic 69.5 Percent 72.1 Percent (2.6) Points
Latin America 66.9 Percent 67.3 Percent (0.4) Points
Pacific 55.5 Percent 70.8 Percent (15.3) Points
Total Jet 68.4 Percent 70.2 Percent (1.8) Points
Cont'l. Express 60.4 Percent 58.6 Percent 1.8 Points
CARGO REVENUE TON MILES (000)
Total 33,914 43,132 (21.4) Percent
PRELIMINARY OPERATIONAL RESULTS
NOVEMBER 1-15, 2001 2001 2000 Change
On-Time Performance* 90.1% 79.5% 10.6 Points
Completion Factor** 99.4% 99.5% (0.1) Points
PRELIMINARY RASM CHANGE
November 1-15, 2001 estimated
year-over-year RASM change (21-23) Percent
* Department of Transportation arrivals within 14 minutes
** System Mileage Completion Percentage