'Continental Airlines' () is a
US certificated air carrier. Based in
Houston, Texas, it is the fourth-largest airline in the U.S.
[1] and the eighth-largest in the world by
revenue passenger miles. Continental's marketing slogan, since 1998, has been ''Work Hard, Fly Right''.
Continental operates to destinations throughout the U.S.,
Canada,
Latin America,
Europe, and the
Asia-Pacific region. It has more than 3,000 daily departures, serving 151 domestic and 120 international destinations and has 42,200 employees (at March
2007)
[2]. Principal operations are from its three hubs at
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (in
Cleveland, Ohio),
George Bush Intercontinental Airport (in
Houston, Texas), and
Newark Liberty International Airport (in
Newark, New Jersey). With a relatively small number of
focus cities, the airline is arguably the most concentrated of all 6 major U.S. carriers around the
hub and spoke system of airline travel.
Continental Micronesia, a wholly owned
subsidiary, operates routes around
Micronesia from its hub at
Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport on
Guam and connects the Micronesian region with destinations in
East Asia,
Southeast Asia,
Honolulu and
Cairns, Australia.
Continental Airlines is a minority owner of
ExpressJet Airlines, which operates under the
trade name Continental Express but is a separately managed and
publicly-traded company. They are also a minority owner of
Copa Airlines.
Cape Air,
Colgan Air,
CommutAir, and
Gulfstream International Airlines feed Continental's flights under the
Continental Connection identity, as does
Chautauqua Airlines under the Continental Express identity; however, Continental does not have any ownership interests in these companies.
Since September 2004, Continental has been a member of the
SkyTeam Alliance, in which it participates with
Delta Air Lines,
Northwest Airlines, and
KLM. In addition to extensive
code share arrangements with SkyTeam partner airlines, the airline also code-shares with
Amtrak rail services to some cities in the northeastern
United States, and with
SNCF French Rail to destinations in
France.
History
Early history
Continental Airlines began service in
1934 as 'Varney Speed Lines', named after one of its initial owners,
Walter T. Varney operating out of
El Paso,
Texas and extending through
Las Vegas,
Albuquerque and
Santa Fe,
New Mexico to
Pueblo,
Colorado. The airline started with Lockheed Vegas, a single engine plane that carried four passengers. The airline later flew other Lockheed planes, including the Lodestar. It was renamed Continental on
1 July 1937 after a new owner
Robert Six had taken a forty percent ownership with Varney's co-founder
Louis Mueller. Six relocated the airline's headquarters to
Stapleton Airport in
Denver in October, 1937. Robert F. Six was one of the legendary patriarchs of U.S. aviation had a reputation as a scrappy, pugnacious and risk-taking executive who presided over the airline he largely forged in his image for more than 40 years.
[3]
During
World War II Continental's
Denver maintenance facilities became a conversion center where the airline converted
B-29s and
P-51s for the
United States Army Air Force. Profits from military transportation and aircraft conversion enabled Continental to contemplate expansion and acquisition of new aircraft types which became available following the war.
[4] Among those types were the DC-3, and Convair 240. Some of the DC-3's were acquired as surplus planes after WW-II. The Convair was the first airplane, opeated by Continental, that was pressurized.
The airline's early route network was limited to the southwestern
United States for many years. In 1953, Continental merged with
Pioneer Airlines, gaining access to 16 additional cities in
Texas and
New Mexico which integrated well with the carrier's initial El Paso-Albuquerque-Denver route.
[4]
Growth
Robert F. Six
By the end of the 1950s, Continental Airlines had seen a broad expansion of its routes. In 1957 it flew for the first time from Chicago to Los Angeles (both nonstop, and via Denver); and from Denver to Kansas City. Continental Airlines introduced turboprop service with the Vickers Viscount 800 Series, on the new medium length routes. Continental was also an early operator of the
Boeing 707, taking delivery of its first 707s in 1959. Six, not being satisfied with jet service alone, introduced dramatic service innovations with Continental's 707 operations which were described as, "...nothing short of luxurious" by the
Los Angeles Times, and, "...clearly, the finest in the airline industry" by the Chicago Tribune.
[6]
Continental's initial purchase of the Boeing 707 jets was for four jets. The airline introduced a program of progressive maintenance in order to obtain the utilization rates for the jets needed to operate its schedule. That program was crucial to successfully operating with only four jets.
Prior to the arrival of the Boeing 707 jets, Continental acquired DC-7's to operate its non-stop route from Los Angeles to Chicago.
Beginning in the early 1960s Continental expanded rapidly, adding service from Los Angeles to Houston (both nonstop, and with services via Phoenix, Tucson, El Paso, Midland/Odessa, Austin, and San Antonio); and from Denver and to Seattle, Portland, New Orleans, and Houston (both nonstop, and with services via Wichita and Tulsa/Oklahoma City). In 1963 the company's headquarters moved from
Denver to
Los Angeles.
[4]
During the last half of the 1960's, Continental replaced the Viscounts with DC-9's from Douglas Aircraft. The company also disposed of its piston powered airplanes, one of the first airlines to do so. The last piston powered airplane operated by Continental was the DC-3.
Throughout the
Vietnam War Continental provided extensive cargo and troop transportation for
United States Army and
Marine forces to Asian and the Pacific bases. As a result of Continental's experience in Pacific operations, the carrier formed subsidiary
Air Micronesia, picking up
island hopping routes between Saipan/Guam and Honolulu, which Continental operated with 727 aircraft (this unit is currently known as ''Continental Micronesia''). In 1968 a new aircraft
livery was launched, the orange and gold
cheatlines adorned with a black global circle on the jet's tails. The marketing slogan adopted in the late 1960s and used through the early 70s was, "The Proud Bird with the Golden Tail."
[6][4]
1969 saw the introduction of service from Los Angeles to Honolulu/Hilo; and in 1970, Continental's first
Boeing 747s arrived. McDonell-Douglas
DC-10s were added to the fleet in 1971. Continental was selected to serve the route from the
Pacific Northwest to San Jose and Ontario, CA.
[4]
Continental's growth during this period was about more than new aircraft types or additional route miles. Quality was the watchword in every detail of the carrier's operation; and in one anecdotal indication of Six's passion for premium customer service, every page of the airline's Customer Service Manual was inscribed with these words: "Nothing in this manual supersedes common sense." Bob Six relentlessly prowled the Continental system, as well as competitors' flights, to assure tight quality standards and to search for ideas that could be adopted to Continental's network.
[11][4]
At Six's insistence, Continental (with
Pan Am) was a launch airline for the Boeing 747 aircraft. Its upper-deck first class lounge won awards worldwide for the most refined cabin interior among all airlines, as did meal services developed by Continental's Cordon Bleu-trained executive chefs. Continentals 747 services from Chicago and Denver to Los Angeles and Honolulu set the standard for service in the western U.S. When asked by one Denver customer service agent in 1974 why he flew Continental wherever he could, Hollywood legend
Henry Fonda remarked, "This operation is class; strictly class!"
[11][4]
First black pilot
In 1963, Continental hired the first
black pilot to work for any major carrier in the United States,
Marlon Green, after a
United States Supreme Court decision allowed a
Colorado anti-discrimination law to be applied to his case.
[15]
Acquisition by Texas Air Corp.
In 1981 Texas Air Corporation, an airline holding company controlled by U.S. aviation entrepreneur and raider
Frank Lorenzo, acquired Continental after a contentious battle with Continental's management who were adamantly determined to resist Lorenzo. Continental's labor unions also fiercely resisted, fearing what they termed as, "Lorenzo's deregulation tactics." In the end, Texas Air Corp. prevailed. Frank Lorenzo became Continental's new Chairman and CEO. Texas International Airlines (TI), another Lorenzo holding, was merged into Continental Airlines in June 1982. TI ceased to exist and the "new Continental" relocated its headquarters to Texas Air's base in Houston, Texas. The merger resulted in a large expansion of Continental's hub at
Houston Intercontinental Airport and its extensive routes to
Mexico.
[11][17]
Airline unions fought Continental at every step. In the Federal courts, they unsuccessfully sued to stop the company's reorganization. They were successful in working to persuade Congress to pass a new bankruptcy law preventing bankrupt companies from terminating contracts as Continental had successfully done. The law was too late to affect Continental and the drastic cost cutting and changes that had rescued it from liquidation.
[11][19][20]
First bankruptcy
Frank Lorenzo took Continental into
Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 1983 after extensive negotiations with labor unions proved unsuccessful. Continental imposed a series of new labor agreement on its union workers, sharply reducing the airline's labor costs. This move made Continental vastly more competitive with the new airline startups then emerging and thriving in the southwestern U.S.
[19][22]
Much of the airline was liquidated and the company was rebranded as a low-cost carrier. Continental was also forced to abandon its hub in Los Angeles although it maintained its Denver and South Pacific routes. A more streamlined, leaner Continental emerged only a few days after the bankruptcy filing, a fact which gave Continental the distinction of being the first airline to fly through bankruptcy.
[19][22]
Rapid growth through consolidation
In October 1983, Texas Air Corp. made an offer for a Denver-based regional carrier,
Frontier Airlines, opening a bidding war with
People Express, which was headed by Lorenzo's former TI associate Don Burr. PeopleExpress paid a substantial premium for Frontier's high-cost operation. The acquisition, funded by debt, didn't seem to industry observers be rational from either the route integration or the operating philosophy points of view, but was in the opinion of most industry analysts rather an attempt by Burr to best his former boss, Frank Lorenzo.
[11][22]
In June 1985, Continental rebounded as signaled by a major strategic move: initiating European service with flights from
Newark and
Houston to
London.
.
On August 24, 1986 Frontier filed for bankruptcy and ceased operations. With PeopleExpress hemorraging cash, Texas Air acquired PeopleExpress on September 15, 1986, at the same time gaining Frontier, which reinforced Continental's already formidable Denver hub. The PeopleExpress hub at Newark allowed Continental to expand its east coast services dramatically for the first time in its history; and the carrier soon became the third-largest airline in the U.S.. Continental emerged from bankruptcy in 1986 with dramatically improved asset and cash flow positions and a much more competitive route structure with routes radiating to every large U.S. city from major hubs at Denver, Newark and Houston.
[22][11]
On February 1, 1987, People Express, New York Air, and several commuter carriers were merged into Continental Airlines to create the sixth largest airline in the world. 1987 also saw the creation of the
OnePass frequent flier program, and in 1988 Continental formed its first strategic partnership with
SAS.
[11]
Second bankruptcy
In 1990, Frank Lorenzo retired after 18 years at the helm of Texas International and later Texas Air and Continental Airlines, selling the majority of his Jet Capital Corporation to
Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS). According to William F. Buckley, in his September 17, 1990 article on National Review, the sale to SAS was conditioned on Lorenzo leaving the company. Shortly after Lorenzo left Continental, the airline filed for its second bankruptcy inside of a decade. There were a number of circumstances behind the second bankruptcy, most importantly: Lorenzo had dedicated himself almost full time to
Eastern Air Lines acquisition and labor relations issues; the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the resultant
Gulf War had prompted a dramatic increase in the price of jet fuel; and People Express had also been highly leveraged at the time of its merger with Continental, having purchased
Frontier Airlines just two years before. In addition to Lorenzo embarking on deals which saddled the airline with other carriers' debts, he also began consolidating the different airlines into one system. That resulted in a fleet comprising numerous aircraft types, evident in the array of liveries in the Continental fleet for years to come.
In the late
1980s, following a dramatic reduction of service by
United Airlines and an unsuccessful attempt by
USAir to build-up point-to-point service, Continental slowly moved into
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and established what would become its third-largest system hub. Continental quickly gained nearly all of the gates in the airport's C concourse (once dominated by United), and later expanded that concourse in addition to constructing an entirely new Concourse D.
In 1993
Air Canada, along with
Air Partners and
Texas Pacific Group, aided Continental in coming out of chapter 11 once again by investing $450 million in the airline. Under the leadership of former Boeing executive
Gordon Bethune, who became President in October of 1994, Continental subsequently ordered new aircraft in an effort to convert to an all-
Boeing fleet. The airline's Denver hub - its historic operational base and headquarters for, in effect, almost 50 years - was reduced to spoke status (with service only to Houston, Newark, and Cleveland) in a further efficiency measure in 1995. Bethune also launched a 'Go-Forward Plan', designed to fix numerous other problems with the airline. His experiences were chronicled in his 1999 book ''
From Worst to First''.
[30]
Current operations
Continental embarked on an ambitious program to expand its international operations. In 1998 it launched flights to
Ireland and
Scotland, and in October 1998 the airline received its first
Boeing 777 aircraft, allowing non-stop flights from Newark and Houston to
Tokyo, Japan and from Newark to
Tel Aviv, Israel. Continental in the same year launched partnerships with
Northwest Airlines,
Copa,
Avant Airlines,
Transbrasil, and
Cape Air, and Continental and
America West Airlines became the first two US airlines to launch interline electronic ticketing.
On March 1, 2001 Continental launched a
non-stop flight from Newark to
Hong Kong, flying over the North Pole, which was the first non-stop long-haul flight service for any airline with flying duration of 16 hours. However the
September 11, 2001 attacks and the
SARS outbreak in Asia caused service to be suspended until August 1, 2003. The launch in 2001 started the battle between Continental,
United Airlines and
Cathay Pacific over non-stop flights between Hong Kong and New York.
In 2005, Continental expanded service from Newark to Beijing after being awarded the China route. During the same year, five new European destinations including
Belfast in
Northern Ireland,
Stockholm in
Sweden,
Bristol in the
United Kingdom, and
Hamburg and
Berlin in
Germany. 2005 was a year in which coverage in Asia was also expanded; Continental introduced a nonstop daily flight from Newark to
New Delhi,
India. With the immense success of this Newark-Delhi route, Continental decided to open a second gateway in India. With the recent announcement of daily nonstop service to
Mumbai, Continental will have the most nonstop flights from the United States to India by any carrier. Continental also began new non-stop service to
Athens in June of 2007.
By May, 2006, Continental passed bankrupt Northwest Airlines to become the fourth-largest U.S. carrier, the first change in the top-five rankings since 2001.
''
The Wall Street Journal'' revealed on
December 12,
2006 that Continental was in merger discussions with
United Airlines. Of issue would be Continental's
golden share held by
Northwest Airlines, dating from a stakeholding relationship during the late 1990s, and the divestiture of Continental's Guamanian hub. A deal was not "certain or imminent," with the talks being in a preliminary state.
[31][32]
In mid-2007, Continental will feature docking capability for
Apple Computer's
iPod portable music and video player. This will allow the device's battery to be charged, but will also allow integration with Continental's
In-flight Entertainment (IFE) system. This will also enable the IFE system to play music, television shows, or movies stored on the iPod, as well as function as a control system.
[33]
Recognizing operational capacity limits at
Newark, Continental has begun utilizing its
Cleveland hub as a reliever by developing more international service. In 2008, Continental will begin flying from Cleveland to
Paris, and has announced new, seasonal once-weekly flights between Cleveland and
Québec City. Additional international routes are expected to follow, pending the completion of a newly-expanded
Federal Inspection Services station in Continental's primary concourse in Cleveland.
Awards
Continental has recently earned other noteworthy recognitions and awards:
★ No. 1 Most Admired Global Airline;
FORTUNE magazine (2004, 2005, and 2006)
★ No. 1 Most Admired U.S. Airline;
FORTUNE magazine (2006)
★ Best Executive/Business Class;
OAG Airline of the Year Awards (2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006)
★ Best Airline Based in North America;
OAG Airline of the Year Awards (2004, 2005, and 2006)
★ Best Trans-Atlantic and Trans-Pacific Business Class among U.S. airlines;
Conde Nast Traveler (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006)
★ Best Airline for Travel in North America, Best Flight Attendants in the US, and Best Inflight Service in the US by reader survey in the UK's Business Traveller magazine (December 2006)
★ "Airline of the Year" by
OAG
★ Continental was also named "World's Most Admired Airline." by
Yahoo
★ Award for Highest- Ranked Network Airline by
J.D. Power and Associates
Destinations
Continental Airlines operates primarily a hub and spoke route network with hubs in Cleveland, Houston, and Newark, and a Micronesian hub in Guam. It operates most of its flights from its hubs, with the exception of some notable routes (most notably Seattle-Anchorage and Los Angeles-Honolulu). Continental Express also operates flights not involving hubs, such as Florida-Bahamas service and some service in the U.S. Northeast.
Continental has served Australia in the past with DC-10 service from Hawaii but eventually withdrew from the Australian market with the exception of less than daily 737 service between Cairns and Guam. Continental also operated a large hub in Denver but closed the hub in 1995 after Stapleton International Airport was closed and replaced with the current Denver International Airport. Continental also withdrew from intra-(US)West Coast markets in the early 1990s when it ended its short lived Continental Lite airline, which was supposed to be a low fare 737 airline, this has been replaced with a codesharing agreement with
American Eagle to cover the west coast market.
Continental was initially a domestic airline though it has served Mexican destinations for many years. It entered in transatlantic market in April, 1985 with the introduction of the Houston-London Gatwick flight. Current Bermuda II treaty obligations with the United Kingdom do not allow new entrant airlines to fly into London Heathrow, but the U.S. has awarded Continental route authority to Heathrow. The British have allowed Continental to codeshare with Virgin Atlantic into Heathrow but have not allowed Continental to exercise the route authority to actually fly aircraft into Heathrow that the U.S. have unilaterally granted.
However, there are reports (March 2, 2007) that a tentative agreement has been reached to drop Bermuda II restrictions preventing US flag carriers, other than United and American, from flying to Heathrow.
[34] The
Open Skies Agreement with the EU allows for any US carrier to fly from a US city to a European one. As a result, Continental is hoping to gain slots to fly into Heathrow.
Continental flies to the most scheduled destinations of any US airline in
India,
Japan,
Mexico, and the
United Kingdom, and is the only US airline to fly to the
Federated States of Micronesia,
Indonesia,
Marshall Islands,
Norway and
Palau. It has the most scheduled international destinations of any U.S.-based airline if some Continental Express destinations to Mexico are included.
On
July 16,
2007 Continental announced that it had applied with the Department of Transportation for daily direct service between
Cleveland and
Shanghai via
Newark. If approved, the route would begin in 2009 and would be operated with a Boeing 777 aircraft.
[35]
Fleet
Continental's all-
Boeing fleet with an age of 8.9 years consists of the following aircraft:
'Continental Airlines Fleet'| Aircraft | Total | Passengers
(First
★ /Economy) | Routes | Notes |
|---|
| Boeing 737-300 | 48 | 124 (12/112) | ''Domestic short-medium haul''
US, Mexico, Canada | Will retrofit 11 with winglets
Exiting from service: 7 in 2008 |
| Boeing 737-500 | 63 | 114 (8/106) | ''Domestic short-medium haul'' | Will retrofit 37 with winglets
Selling 10 to Transaero
Exiting from service: 3 in 2007, 12 in 2008 |
| Boeing 737-700 | 36
(22 orders) | 124 (12/112) | ''Domestic short-medium haul'' | All configured with winglets |
| Boeing 737-800 | 105
(15 orders) | 150 (18/132)
152 (20/132)
155 (14/141)
157 (16/141) | ''Domestic short-medium haul''
Continental Micronesia
US, Mexico, Canada | All configured with winglets
Deliveries: 12 in 2008 |
| Boeing 737-900 | 12 | 167 (18/149) | ''Domestic medium-long haul'' | |
| Boeing 737-900ER | (27 orders) | 173 (20/153) | | Entry into service: 2008
Deliveries: 21 in 2008 |
| Boeing 757-200 | 41 | 175 (16/159) | ''Domestic/international medium-long haul'' | Configured with BusinessFirst seats
All configured with winglets
To be fitted with new interiors |
| Boeing 757-300 | 17 | 216 (24/192) | ''Domestic medium-long haul'' | |
| Boeing 767-200ER | 10 | 174 (25/149) | ''International medium-long haul''
Europe, South America, Asia, US Domestic (i.e. EWR-IAH) | |
| Boeing 767-400ER | 16 | 235 (35/200)
256 (20/236) | ''International medium-long haul''
Continental Micronesia
Mainland Hawaii, Europe, South America, Asia, US Domestic (i.e. EWR-MCO) | |
| Boeing 777-200ER | 20 | 283 (48/235)
285 (50/235) | ''International long haul'' | To be fitted with new interiors |
| Boeing 787-8 | (8 orders) | | | Entry into service: 2009 |
| Boeing 787-9 | (17 orders) | | | Entry into service: 2012 |
★ First Class is offered on Domestic Flights. BusinessFirst is offered on Transatlantic/Transpacific Flights.
Continental Boeing 737-800
Recently, Continental Airlines announced that it will acquire 24 more Boeing Next-Generation
737 aircraft, bringing the total number of Boeing 737NGs in its fleet to 213 when these aircraft, and pre-existing firm order 737NG aircraft, are delivered.
On August 3, 2006, Continental converted an order for 12 Boeing 737NG's for an order for 737-900ER's, the first carrier in the Americas to operate the aircraft, with first delivery in 2008.
[36]
Continental Airlines was one of three carriers (with
American Airlines and
Delta Air Lines) to sign an exclusivity agreement with Boeing in the late 1990s. When Boeing acquired
McDonnell Douglas, the
European Union forced Boeing to void the contracts. However, both parties have been adhering to the terms under a
gentlemen's agreement.
Continental was one of the first major airlines to fly the Boeing 757 on transatlantic routes. There have been some instances of range limitations on west-bound transatlantic flights due to strong headwinds resulting in a fuel stop which does not appear on the timetable, but these stops are not common. The use of the 757 with its smaller seating capacity has allowed for "thin" routes (routes with less passenger traffic) to be economically viable. It has allowed non-stop service from smaller cities, such as Bristol England, to the New York area. Previously, customers in Bristol had to go to London to cross the Atlantic.
Cabin
Continental Airlines along with all U.S. SkyTeam carriers have a two-class layout, First/BusinessFirst and Economy Class. On international flights using the Boeing 757, 767 and 777, the premium cabin service is known as BusinessFirst, the equivalent of
business class, while on all domestic flights, the premium cabin service is simply known as First Class.
Due to
triskaidekaphobia (fear of the number 13), none of the planes in the Continental fleet or in use as Continental Express have a 13th row.
OnePass
OnePass is Continental Airlines frequent flyer program, which was established in 1987, offering regular travelers the ability to obtain free tickets, First Class upgrades on flights, discounted membership for its airport lounge (
President's Club), or other types of rewards. Customers accumulate miles from flight segments they fly or through Continental Airlines partners. OnePass elite tiers are Silver, Gold, and Platinum Elite which have benefits such as complimentary upgrades, mileage bonus, priority check-in, priority boarding, and much more. Continental previously had a frequent flyer program prior to OnePass, which was started not long after American Airline started its frequent flyer program in 1981 and when most large US airlines followed, but this was merged with Eastern Airlines' frequent flyer program in 1987 to form OnePass.
[37][38] The name "OnePass" refers to the ability to accumulate miles on two major airlines, namely Continental and Eastern, in one frequent flyer program.
In addition to its
Continental Express,
Continental Connection, and
SkyTeam Alliance partnerships, Continental has frequent flyer partnerships with the following airlines:
Continental Airlines also offers frequent flyer partnerships with the following car rental companies:
Presidents Club
The Presidents Club is the membership airport lounge program of Continental Airlines. The clubs all have open bars and free
wifi. Continental was the first airline to offer free wifi in their lounge.
[39] There are 27 clubs throughout the world and members have full reciprocal privileges at over 40 additional locations including lounges operated by selected
SkyTeam partners including
Delta Air Lines,
Aeromexico,
Alitalia, and
Northwest Airlines. Presidents club members also have access to
Alaska Airlines lounges and
Amtrak Acela clubs. The Presidents Club offers lifetime memberships, something that as of 2007 costs non-elite
OnePass members $4,690.
[40]
Locations
The Presidents Club locations are listed below:
Continental Airlines President Club members are allowed to use partner clubs, which offer more clubs in more locations. For partner club information see
club location information at continental.com
Codeshare agreements
Continental Airlines has
codeshare agreements with the following airlines as of
August 2006:
(''This list does not include
SkyTeam airlines'')
★
AeroRepublica
★
Air Europa
★
Alaska Airlines and
Horizon Air
★
Cape Air, and the
Continental Connection agreement, 'Continental Connection operated by Cape Air'' in Micronesia and Southern Florida.
★
Copa Airlines
★
Emirates
★
EVA Airways
★
Kingfisher Airlines
★
Hawaiian Airlines
★
Island Air
★
US Helicopter
★
Virgin Atlantic Airways
'
Continental Connection codeshares'
''Continental Connection has a codeshare with
American Eagle (the
American Airlines and
AMR Corporation version of
Continental Express), yet not with American Airlines. Also, American Eagle does not operate as Continental Connection, it codeshares specifically with Continental Connection, not Continental Airlines. The operators of Continental Connection are:
Continental Connection.
★
CommutAir operates mostly in
New York State.
★
Colgan Air operates out of its hub at Houston's
George Bush Intercontinental Airport
★
RegionsAir operates out of their Cleveland hub. Recently grounded due to airline training procedures.
★
Cape Air operates (Continental also has a codeshare with the mainstream Cape Air) in Southern Florida and from Guam to Saipan, Saipan to
Rota and Rota to Guam.
★
Gulfstream International Airlines operates in the Bahamas, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, Tampa, and West Palm Beach, Jacksonville, Fort Walton, Tallahassee, Fort Myers, Key West, and Sarasota-Southwest International
Incidents and accidents
The following are major incidents and accidents that occurred on Continental Airlines mainline aircraft.
'Continental Airlines Reported Incidents'| Flight | Date | Aircraft | Location | Description | Casualties |
|---|
| Fatal | Serious | Minor/Uninjured | Ground | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 [1] | May 22, 1962 | Boeing 707-100 | Unionville, MO | A passenger looking to claim money from life insurance planted a bomb on the aircraft which departed Chicago-O’Hare destined for. Kansas City Municipal Airport. The bomb exploded and the tail broke off and the plane crashed on a farm near Unionville, Missouri. All 45 on board died. The aircraft had previously been subject to an attempted hijack to Cuba, although the hijackers were captured in El Paso, TX. | 45 | | | |
290
[2] | January 29, 1963 | Vickers Viscount | Kansas City, MO | Flight 290 was flying from Midland, TX to Kansas City when it crashed on approach. The plane crashed near the south end of the runway and burst into flames. | 8 | | | |
| N/A [3] | April 13, 1973 | NA-265 Sabreliner | Montrose, CO | The thrust reverser of the aircraft was deployed in flight shortly after takeoff. The Sabreliner descended from 1000 feet and struck the ground. | 2 | | | |
603
[4] | March 1, 1978 | DC-10 | Los Angeles, CA | Flight 603 was schedulced to fly to Honolulu, HI from Los Angeles. The DC-10 overran the runway during an aborted takeoff as a resulted of a tire explosion resulting in a fire engulfing the aircraft. The aircraft was declared a total loss. | 2 | 31 | 167 | |
| 1713 [5] | November 15, 1987 | DC-9 | Denver, CO | Flight 1713 bound for Boise, Idaho crashed on take-off during a snowstorm. | 28 | 28 | 26 | |
55
[6] | July 25, 2000 | DC-10 | Paris, France | Flight 55 contributed to the crash of Air France Concorde Flight 4590 in Paris. The Continental jet dropped a strip of metal from its thrust reverser on the runway, causing the Concorde's tires to explode as it began its takeoff roll. The exploding tires penetrated Concorde's wing fuel tanks, starting fires in engines 1 and 2, leading to the crash which killed all aboard. According to the official report on the accident, the strip of metal installed on the Continental jet had not been authorized by the US Federal Aviation Administration or the aircraft manufacturer. This led French authorities to begin a criminal investigation into Continental Airlines.[41] | | | | 113 |
Minor Incidents
★ On
July 1,
1965 Continental Airlines Flight 12 ran off the runway at
Kansas City Downtown Airport landing in heavy rain. All 66 on board survived.
★ On
February 19,
1996 Continental Airlines flight 1943, a
Douglas DC-9-32 aircraft flying from
Washington, DC to
Houston, made a wheels up landing in
Houston Intercontinental Airport. There were no fatalities. The cause of the accident was flightcrew’s failure to perform the landing checklist and confirm that the landing gear was extended.
[42]
★ On
August 2,
1997, aboard a Continental Airlines Boeing 757-200, a passenger in a wheelchair was left at the top of the airstairs while an agent was bringing the wheelchair for loading. The passenger was reportedly instructed to remain in place. However, the passenger continued to walk and passed through an open door on the right side of the plane used for catering and fell to the tarmac resulting in death. Although this incident was not a result of an aircraft crash, the incident initiated an FAA investigation and report because it involved a passenger death.
★ On
April 25,
2000, a Continental Airlines
DC-10 suffered an uncontained engine failure when 2 of its 3 engines burst through the fan casing. The breach also ruptured the primary hydraulic lines, and blew the tires. The aircraft landed 34 minutes after takeoff on one engine.
★ In a mishap on
June 14,
2000, a Continental Airlines MD-80's engines were undergoing a test run, at gate C115 at
Newark International Airport, which inadvertently caused it to crash into the gate area with six people aboard, all staff members. Nobody was hurt, but the gate area was damaged. The plane was scheduled to be operated as
Continental Airlines Flight 481 to be flown between
Newark and
Detroit.
[43]
★ On
6 January 2004, Continental Airlines flight 6 from
Tokyo, Japan to
Houston, Texas was forced to divert to
Midway Atoll in Pacific with 279 passengers and 14 crew. An engine on the
Boeing 777-200ER twinjet was shut down after suffering an "oil leak from a starter", and the flight was required to land at the nearest available airfield in accordance with
ETOPS regulations.
[44]
★ On
2 March 2005, a Continental Airlines
Boeing 777-200ER aircraft, with 14 crew and 198 passengers on board, scraped the tail region on take off from
Newark Liberty International Airport. The aircraft landed back uneventfully. The rear pressure bulkhead was found to have been damaged (ref: Flight International, July 2005).
★ On
January 16,
2006, a Continental Airlines contract mechanic was sucked into the engine of a
Boeing 737-500 and killed. The incident took place at
El Paso International Airport.
[45]
★ On
October 28,
2006,
Continental Flight 1883, a
Boeing 757-200 aircraft carrying 160 passengers, landed on a narrow unoccupied taxiway parallel of runway 29 at
Newark Liberty International Airport. No one was injured and both pilots were stripped of their flying duties pending an investigation and have since been reinstated. Poor runway lighting was cited in the investigation.
[46]
★ On
January 20,
2007, Continental Flight 1838, a
Boeing 757, departed
George Bush Intercontinental Airport at 11:30 a.m. with 210 passengers. The aircraft bound for
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico was forced to divert to
McAllen, TX after the captain, who was on his initial operating experience, became incapacitated while in flight. The check captain, who was acting as first officer, executed a safe landing in McAllen where the captain was pronounced dead.
[7]
★ On
March 26,
2007, Continental Flight 98, a
Boeing 777 from
Hong Kong, landed at
Newark Liberty International Airport at 2 p.m., but was held for two hours during which the
Centers for Disease Control investigated the cause of flu-like symptoms among a group of passengers that had been on the same river cruise in
China. At about 4 p.m., all the passengers were allowed to disembark.
[47]
★ On
April 11,
2007, four
Israeli fighter jets were scrambled to escort the Continental Flight 90 flying from
Newark to
Tel Aviv after it failed to make contact with
ATC while on
approach to
Ben Gurion International Airport.
[48]
★ On
June 13,
2007, passengers aboard Continental Flight 71 from
Amsterdam to
Newark endured harsh conditions when raw sewage spilled from one of the lavatories on the aircraft. The plane landed at
Shannon Airport in Ireland, where an overnight repair attempt was made and took off from Shannon as Continental Flight 1970. However, the problem resurfaced while the plane was flying over the Atlantic Ocean, and passengers were exposed to overflowed human waste for the remainder of the trip. It was discovered a passenger flushed latex gloves, an object that is not supposed to be flushed, down the toilet.
[49]
★ On
July 24,
2007 a Continental flight with 116 passengers and a crew of 8 flying from
Panama City to
Houston had to land in
Managua because one of the internal security windows suffered a rupture.
[50]
References
1. "Continental now USA's 4th-biggest airline, passing Northwest", USA Today notes Continental overtaking Northwest according to a Bloomberg News study
2. Directory: World Airlines
3. Serling, Robert J., Maverick: The story of Robert Six and Continental Airlines (ISBN 0-385-04057-1), Doubleday & Company, 1974.
4. filler
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6. Christian, J. Scott, former Continental employee and manager, Bring Songs to the Sky: Recollections of Continental Airlines, 1970-1986, Quadran Press, 2000.
7. filler
8. Christian, J. Scott, former Continental employee and manager, Bring Songs to the Sky: Recollections of Continental Airlines, 1970-1986, Quadran Press, 2000.
9. filler
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15. U.S. Supreme Court, 'COLORADO COMM'N v. CONTINENTAL, 372 U.S. 714 (1963) 372 U.S. 714 COLORADO ANTI-DISCRIMINATION COMMISSION ET AL. v. CONTINENTAL AIR LINES, INC.' CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF COLORADO. No. 146. Argued March 28, 1963. Decided April 22, 1963.
16. filler
17. Buckley, William F. Jr., [5] Frank Lorenzo & the free market in National Review, September 17, 1990.
18. filler
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20. Delaney, Kevin J., Strategic Bankruptcy: How Corporations and Creditors Use Chapter 11 to Their Advantage (ISBN 0-520-07359-2), University of California Press, 1999.
21. filler
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30. Bethune, Gordon, From Worst to First: Behind the scenes of Continental's remarkable comeback (ISBN 978-0471356523), Wiley & Sons, 1999.
31. "UAL, Continental Discuss Merger As AirTran Presses Bid for Midwest." Carey, S.; Trottman, M.; Berman, D. K. ''The Wall Street Journal''. December 13, 2006.
32. "United and Continental Discussing Possible Merger." Sorkin, A. R. and Bailey, J. ''The New York Times''. December 12, 2006
33. "Apple: 6 Airlines To Offer In-Flight iPod Connection In '07." De Weese, J. ''The Wall Street Journal''. November 14, 2006.
34. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aSYhQy6KP1mw&refer=news
35. Continental Airlines Applies to Fly Nonstop Between New York/Newark and Shanghai, China in Spring 2009, Also proposes through flight service between Cleveland and Shanghai
36.
37. personal collection of Eastern Airlines frequent flyer program newsletters from 1987.
38. http://www.insideflyer.com/articles/o2_sidebar.php?key=4
39. Continental Airlines First to Offer Free Wi-Fi in Airport Lounges
40. http://www.continental.com/web/en-US/content/travel/airport/lounge/rates.aspx
41. http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2005-03-10-continental-concorde_x.htm
42. http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/1997/AAR9701.htm
43. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20000614-0&lang=en
44. Jetliner bound for Texas lands on Midway
45. "Mechanic sucked into jet engine". CNN.com, January 16, 2006
46. Weiss, Murray & Jeremy Olshanp. "Airline Pilot in Blunder Land", ''NYPOST.COM'', October 31 2006. Accessed June 21 2007.
47. CDC: Newark Passengers May Have Had Seasonal Flu, WNBC NewsChannel 4, March 27, 2007
48. IAF jets forced to buzz US airliner
49. Continental apologizes for sewage overflow, MSNBC, Updated June 21, 2007.
50. http://www.elnuevodiario.com.ni/2007/07/24/nacionales/54575
★ Continental Airlines, 'Customer Service Manual', 1970 edition.
★ Vietor, Richard H. K. "Contrived Competition: Airline Regulation and Deregulation, 1925-1988," 'The Business History Review', Vol. 64, No. 1, Government and Business (Spring, 1990), pp. 61-108
See also
★
Continental Airlines Arena
External links
★
Continental Airlines official website
★
Continental Airlines Cargo
★
CNN reports of the CO1515
★
Continental Airlines Fleet Age
★
Photos of Continental Airlines aircraft
★
Continental Airlines seating charts and information
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