News Release
Continental Airlines Reports Performance For November 2001
HOUSTON, December 3, 2001 -- Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) today reported a 73.8 percent domestic and 66.8 percent international load factor for a systemwide load factor of 71.4 percent in November 2001. The systemwide load factor is 1.2 points below the 72.6 percent load factor reported for November 2000.
Continental's on-time arrival rate was 85.9 percent and its completion factor was 99.5 percent for November 2001.
In November 2001, Continental flew 4.2 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs) systemwide and 5.9 billion available seat miles (ASMs), resulting in a traffic decrease of 16.7 percent and a capacity decrease of 15.2 percent versus November 2000. Domestic traffic was 2.8 billion RPMs, down 12.9 percent from November 2000, and domestic capacity was 3.8 billion ASMs, down 12.8 percent from last year.
During the Thanksgiving holiday, Nov. 21-26, the carrier reported a load factor of 77.5 percent, which is essentially unchanged from last year's load factor during this period. On Sunday, Nov. 25, Continental reported a 91.1 percent domestic load factor, 1.4 points higher than the same Sunday last year.
Lower year-over-year yields and moderately lower load factors resulted in a decrease in estimated systemwide passenger revenue per available seat mile (RASM) of between 17 and 19 percent for November 2001, as compared to November 2000. For the month of October 2001, RASM declined 23 percent as compared to October 2000.
Continental Express, a wholly owned subsidiary of Continental Airlines, reported a load factor of 63.5 percent for November 2001, 1.2 points above last year. Continental Express flew 281.0 million RPMs and 442.3 million ASMs in November, resulting in a traffic increase of 6.3 percent and a capacity increase of 4.1 percent versus November 2000.
Bookings for Christmas travel remain strong and load factors are anticipated to be similar to last year.
Weekly StatisticsThe following table summarizes Continental's year-over-year load factor difference for the complete weeks of November 2001 on a same day-of-week basis.
PRELIMINARY YEAR-OVER-YEAR LOAD FACTOR DIFFERENCE
Oct 29 - Nov 5 - Nov 12 - Nov 19 - Nov 26 -
Nov 4 11 18 25 Dec 2
Domestic 0.5 Pts (0.5) Pts (0.4) Pts 0.0 Pts 1.9 Pts
International (9.5) Pts (4.6) Pts (3.4) Pts (1.6) Pts (1.5) Pts
Total Jet (3.2) Pts (2.0) Pts (1.4) Pts (0.2) Pts 0.7 Pts
Cont'l. Express 1.2 Pts 2.2 Pts 1.3 Pts (0.1) Pts 2.8 Pts
PRELIMINARY TRAFFIC RESULTS
NOVEMBER 2001 2000 Change
REVENUE PASSENGER MILES (000)
Domestic 2,822,842 3,240,160 (12.9)Percent
International 1,398,060 1,827,585 (23.5)Percent
Transatlantic 625,666 847,249 (26.2)Percent
Latin America 500,737 610,076 (17.9)Percent
Pacific 271,657 370,259 (26.6)Percent
Total Jet 4,220,902 5,067,745 (16.7)Percent
Cont'l. Express 281,013 264,446 6.3 Percent
AVAILABLE SEAT MILES (000)
Domestic 3,823,319 4,385,520 (12.8)Percent
International 2,092,342 2,594,312 (19.3)Percent
Transatlantic 912,627 1,183,972 (22.9)Percent
Latin America 719,904 881,736 (18.4)Percent
Pacific 459,812 528,604 (13.0)Percent
Total Jet 5,915,661 6,979,831 (15.2)Percent
Cont'l. Express 442,304 424,696 4.1 Percent
PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR
Domestic 73.8 Percent 73.9 Percent (0.1)Points
International 66.8 Percent 70.4 Percent (3.6)Points
Transatlantic 68.6 Percent 71.6 Percent (3.0)Points
Latin America 69.6 Percent 69.2 Percent 0.4 Points
Pacific 59.1 Percent 70.0 Percent (10.9)Points
Total Jet 71.4 Percent 72.6 Percent (1.2)Points
Cont'l. Express 63.5 Percent 62.3 Percent 1.2 Points
CARGO REVENUE TON MILES (000)
Total 65,572 91,925 (28.7)Percent
YEAR-TO-DATE 2001 2000 Change
REVENUE PASSENGER MILES (000)
Domestic 35,261,425 36,235,675 (2.7) Percent
International 21,363,248 22,874,719 (6.6) Percent
Transatlantic 9,557,503 11,124,748 (14.1) Percent
Latin America 7,021,570 7,251,917 (3.2) Percent
Pacific 4,784,175 4,498,054 6.4 Percent
Total Jet 56,624,673 59,110,394 (4.2) Percent
Cont'l. Express 3,107,688 2,695,495 15.3 Percent
AVAILABLE SEAT MILES (000)
Domestic 48,562,295 48,904,563 (0.7) Percent
International 29,710,928 30,115,420 (1.3) Percent
Transatlantic 12,868,779 13,991,346 (8.0) Percent
Latin America 9,802,697 10,071,184 (2.7) Percent
Pacific 7,039,452 6,052,890 16.3 Percent
Total Jet 78,273,223 79,019,983 (0.9) Percent
Cont'l. Express 4,982,519 4,324,499 15.2 Percent
PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR
Domestic 72.6 Percent 74.1 Percent (1.5) Points
International 71.9 Percent 76.0 Percent (4.1) Points
Transatlantic 74.3 Percent 79.5 Percent (5.2) Points
Latin America 71.6 Percent 72.0 Percent (0.4) Points
Pacific 68.0 Percent 74.3 Percent (6.3) Points
Total Jet 72.3 Percent 74.8 Percent (2.5) Points
Cont'l. Express 62.4 Percent 62.3 Percent 0.1 Points
CARGO REVENUE TON MILES (000)
Total 852,032 1,003,101 (15.1) Percent
PRELIMINARY OPERATIONAL RESULTS
NOVEMBER 2001 2000 Change
On-Time Performance* 85.9% 80.0% 5.9 Points
Completion Factor** 99.5% 99.6% (0.1) Points
PRELIMINARY RASM CHANGE
November 2001 estimated year-over-year RASM change (17-19) Percent
November 2001 estimated average price per gallon
of fuel, excluding fuel taxes 66 Cents
* Department of Transportation Arrivals within 14 minutes
** System Mileage Completion Percentage