Continental Airlines Reports February 2010 Performance

Continental Airlines has reported a February 2010 consolidated (mainline plus regional) load factor of 77.7%, 5.2 points above the February 2009 consolidated load factor, and a mainline load factor of 78.1%, 5.2 points above the February 2009 mainline load factor. Both February load factors were records for the month.

 The airline reported a domestic mainline February load factor of 80.6%, 2.9 points above the February 2009 domestic mainline load factor, and a record international mainline load factor of 75.9%, 7.5 points above February 2009.

During February 2010, Continental recorded a U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) on-time arrival rate of 75% and a mainline segment completion factor of 95.4%. Continental’s operational results were adversely impacted by severe winter weather, particularly at its New York hub at Newark Liberty International Airport.

In February 2010, Continental flew 6.1 billion consolidated revenue passenger miles (RPMs) and 7.8 billion consolidated available seat miles (ASMs), resulting in a consolidated traffic increase of 3.3% and a capacity decrease of 3.8% as compared to February 2009.

Continental flew 5.4 billion mainline RPMs and 6.9 billion mainline ASMs, resulting in a mainline traffic increase of 3.2% and a mainline capacity decrease of 3.7% as compared to February 2009. Domestic mainline traffic was 2.7 billion RPMs in February 2010, down 0.5% from February 2009, and domestic mainline capacity was 3.3 billion ASMs, down 4.1% from February 2009.

For February 2010, consolidated passenger revenue per available seat mile (RASM) is estimated to have increased between 7.5 and 8.5% compared to February 2009, while mainline RASM is estimated to have increased between 5.5 and 6.5%.

Continental estimates that the suspension of operations at its New York hub on 10 February 2010, and 26 February 2010, due to severe winter weather in the New York area reduced its consolidated passenger revenue for the month by approximately $25 million. The combination of available seat mile reductions caused by the two February snowstorms and the company’s re-accommodation of many customers who were impacted by its flight cancellations resulted in a year-over-year RASM benefit of approximately one percentage point, compared to the year-over-year RASM performance the company would have expected had the company flown the capacity it  cancelled as a result of the storms.

For January 2010, consolidated passenger RASM decreased 1.3% compared to January 2009, while mainline passenger RASM decreased 2.8% compared to January 2009. Continental’s regional operations had a February load factor of 74.6%, 5.3 points above the February 2009 regional load factor. Regional RPMs were 657 million and regional ASMs were 880.2 million in February 2010, resulting in a traffic increase of 3.5% and a capacity decrease of 4% versus February 2009.

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