Continental Airlines today reported a February consolidated (mainline plus regional) load factor of 72.5 percent, 3.5 points below the February 2008 consolidated load factor, and a mainline load factor of 72.9 percent, 3.1 points below the February 2008 mainline load factor.
Houston – In addition, the carrier reported a domestic mainline February load factor of 77.7 percent, 3.0 points below the February 2008 domestic mainline load factor, and an international mainline load factor of 68.4 percent, 2.9 points below February 2008.
During the month, Continental recorded a U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) on-time arrival rate of 77.7 percent and a mainline segment completion factor of 99.5 percent.
In February 2009, Continental flew 5.9 billion consolidated revenue passenger miles (RPMs) and 8.1 billion consolidated available seat miles (ASMs), resulting in a consolidated traffic decrease of 13.2 percent and a consolidated capacity decrease of 8.9 percent as compared to February 2008. In February 2009, Continental flew 5.2 billion mainline RPMs and 7.2 billion mainline ASMs, resulting in a mainline traffic decrease of 13.1 percent and a mainline capacity decrease of 9.4 percent as compared to February 2008. Domestic mainline traffic was 2.7 billion RPMs in February 2009, down 17.2 percent from February 2008, and domestic mainline capacity was 3.4 billion ASMs, down 14.0 percent from February 2008.
For February 2009, consolidated passenger revenue per available seat mile (RASM) is estimated to have decreased between 11.5 and 12.5 percent compared to February 2008, while mainline passenger RASM is estimated to have decreased between 9.5 and 10.5 percent compared to February 2008.
For January 2009, consolidated passenger RASM decreased 4.8 percent compared to January 2008, while mainline passenger RASM decreased 3.4 percent compared to January 2008.
Continental’s regional operations had a February load factor of 69.3 percent, 6.5 points below the February 2008 regional load factor. Regional RPMs were 635.1 million and regional ASMs were 917.0 million in February 2009, resulting in a traffic decrease of 13.5 percent and a capacity decrease of 5.4 percent versus February 2008.