Continental Airlines reports operational performance for January 2003

Continental Airlines today reported a January 2003 systemwide mainline jet load factor of 68.0 percent, 2.1 points below last year's January load factor.

The January 2003 domestic mainline jet load factor was 67.7 percent and the international mainline jet load factor was 68.4 percent. The airline reported a domestic on-time arrival rate of 85.4 percent and a systemwide completion factor of 99.8 percent for its mainline jet operations in January 2003.

In January 2003, Continental flew 4.4 billion mainline jet revenue passenger miles (RPMs) and 6.5 billion mainline jet available seat miles (ASMs) systemwide, resulting in a traffic decrease of 0.9 percent and a capacity increase of 2.1 percent as compared to January 2002. Domestic mainline jet traffic was 2.6 billion RPMs in January 2003, down 3.1 percent from January 2002, and January 2003 domestic mainline jet capacity was 3.8 billion ASMs, down 2.6 percent from January 2002.

Systemwide January 2003 mainline jet passenger revenue per available seat  mile (RASM) is estimated to have increased between 2 and 4 percent compared to January 2002. For December 2002, RASM increased 10.1 percent as compared to December 2001.

Consolidated breakeven load factor for February 2003 is estimated to be 79 percent. Consolidated breakeven load factor for January 2003 is estimated to have been 82 percent. Actual consolidated breakeven load factor may vary significantly from these estimates depending on actual passenger revenue yields, fuel price and other factors. 

ExpressJet Airlines, a subsidiary of Continental Airlines doing business as Continental Express, separately reported a record January load factor of 56.4 percent for January 2003, 2.1 points above last year's January load factor. ExpressJet flew 327.8 million RPMs and 581.2 million ASMs in January 2003,  resulting in a traffic increase of 25.5 percent and a capacity increase of 20.9 percent versus January 2002.