Continental Airlines Feb. traffic falls 13.2 pct
Tuesday March 3, 11:40 am ET
Continental Airlines traffic falls in February faster than the airline could eliminate seats


HOUSTON (AP) -- Continental Airlines Inc. said traffic in February fell more than 13 percent, even faster than the airline could cut capacity.

The Houston-based airline said Monday that miles flown by paying passengers dropped 13.2 percent to 5.88 billion miles from 6.77 billion a year earlier. Excluding regional operations, revenue passenger miles on Continental's flagship brand fell to 5.24 billion miles from 6.03 billion a year ago.


Capacity decreased 8.9 percent to 8.11 billion available seat miles, and excluding regional subsidiaries Continental's capacity dropped even more, by 9.4 percent, to 7.19 billion available seat miles.

Load factor, or occupancy, slid to 72.5 percent from 76 percent in February 2008. Excluding regional service, Continental's occupancy dipped to 72.9 percent from 76 percent a year ago. Occupancy rose 0.1 percent on Pacific routes but fell everywhere else.


Airlines reduced capacity in the second half of last year, first to deal with high fuel costs, then a downturn in travel caused by the recession. Aggressive fare sales suggest that the carriers are worried demand will remain weak into the peak summer season.


Continental estimated that its passenger revenue per available seat mile, a closely watched measure of financial performance, fell between 9.5 percent and 10.5 percent on Continental alone, and between 11.5 percent and 12.5 percent including flying by regional subsidiaries.


Continental said on-time performance improved to 77.7 percent from 70.2 percent a year ago, and fewer flights were canceled, just 0.5 percent compared with 1.4 percent a year ago.


Shares of Continental shed $1.26, or 13.1 percent, to $8.34 in late-morning trading.