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Continental
Airlines (NYSE: CAL) today reported operating statistics for the month
of September. Due to the adverse effect on the airline from the Sept. 11
terrorist attacks, Continental is reporting weekly detailed statistics
for the Sept. 11-30 period in addition to the regular data for the full
month.
Continental operated only a portion of its flights on Sept.11 and
experienced a federally-mandated cessation of service Sept. 12-13. A
partial flight schedule resumed Sept. 14, and the airline previously
announced that it will indefinitely eliminate approximately 20 percent
of its capacity due to actual and anticipated decreased demand.
Full-Month Statistics
For the month of September, Continental reported a load factor of 61.4
percent, 11.0 points below the 72.4 percent load factor reported for
September 2000.
In September 2001, Continental flew 3.6 billion revenue passenger miles
(RPMs) and 5.9 billion available seat miles (ASMs), resulting in a
traffic decrease of 31.0 percent and a capacity decrease of 18.6 percent
versus September 2000. Domestic traffic was 2.1 billion RPMs, down 32.3
percent from September 2000, and domestic capacity was 3.5 billion ASMs,
down 22.1 percent from last year.
Continental’s on-time arrival rate, which counts cancelled flights as
delayed, was 65.8 percent. Completion factor for the month was 81.2
percent, with a total of 7,539 flights cancelled. Excluding
cancellations due to the attacks and schedule reduction, completion
factor was 99.7 percent.
Continental ended the month of September with cash balances of $1.2
billion. The company received $212.6 million in funds from the U.S.
Government under the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization
Act, and expects to receive additional payments under that Act before
the end of the calendar year, in an amount approximating the amount
already received.
The decline of Continental’s load factor, along with a decline in yield
in September 2001, resulted in a decrease in estimated systemwide
passenger revenue per available seat mile (RASM) of between 25 and 29
percent, as compared to September 2000. The RASM decrease during Sept.
1-10 was between 9 and 11 percent, while the decline during Sept. 11-30
is estimated to be between 33 and 37 percent, as compared to the same
periods in 2000.
Continental Express, a wholly owned regional air carrier for Continental
Airlines, reported a September load factor of 52.0 percent, 6.9 points
below last September. Continental Express flew 195.0 million RPMs and
375.0 million ASMs in September, resulting in a traffic decrease of 21.7
percent and a capacity decrease of 11.4 percent versus September 2000.
For the entire month, Continental and Continental Express had 2,915,615
enplanements, a 32.2 percent drop from the 4,298,885 enplanements
recorded in September 2000.
Statistics for Weeks After Sept. 11
For the period of Sept. 11-16, Continental reported a load factor of
62.2 percent, while operating only 32 percent of its expected capacity.
For Sept. 17-23, Continental’s load factor dropped to 50.4 percent. For
Sept. 24-30, the load factor rose to 54.1 percent. |
