Continental Airlines

From Free net encyclopedia

Continental Airlines Template:Airline codes (Template:Nyse) is an airline of the United States. Based in Houston, Texas, it is the 5th largest airline in the U.S. and the 6th largest in the world. Continental's tagline, since 1998, has been Work Hard, Fly Right.

Continental flies to destinations throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia from its three hubs at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (in Houston, TX), Newark Liberty International Airport (in Newark, NJ near New York City), and Hopkins International Airport (in Cleveland, OH). Additionally, Continental Micronesia, covers cities in Hawaii, Polynesia, Micronesia, Australia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia from its hub at Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport in Guam. (Continental Micronesia was a wholly-owned subsidiary operation as an affiliate carrier until it was folded-into the Continental mainline operation after September 11, 2001.)

Continental is a minority owner of ExpressJet Airlines, which operates under the trade name Continental Express but is a separate, public company. Cape Air, Colgan Air, CommutAir, and Gulfstream International Airlines feed Continental's flights under the "Continental Connection" name.

Since September 2004, Continental has been a member of the SkyTeam Alliance, which it joined alongside Northwest Airlines and KLM. Previously, it was part of the now-defunct Wings Alliance. In addition to extensive code-share arrangements with SkyTeam partner airlines such as Delta Air Lines, the airline also code-shares with Amtrak to some cities in the northeastern United States, and with SNCF French Rail to stations in France.

1 History
2 Destinations
3 Fleet
4 Affinity Programs
5 Incidents and accidents
6 See also
7 External links

[edit]

History

[edit]

Early history

Image:CO777.PNG Continental Airlines began service in 1934 as Varney Speed Lines, named after its initial owner, Walter T. Varney, first operating out of El Paso International Airport. Varney Speed Lines changed its name to Continental on 1 July 1937 after new owner Robert Six had taken over. Six moved the airline headquarters to Stapleton Airport in Denver, Colorado in October of that same year. He went on to preside over the airline for 40 years.

In the 1940s Continental's Denver headquarters became a conversion center where the airline took care of converting B-17s and B-29s for the United States military during World War II.

The airline's route network was limited to the southwestern United States for many years. In 1953, Continental merged with Pioneer Airlines, gaining access to 16 more cities in Texas and New Mexico. In 1957 it flew for the first time from Chicago to Los Angeles. Although the airline took deliveries of its first jet aircraft in 1958, its Boeing 707s did not fly to the East Coast.

Image:TTPI UN Mission 1978.jpg In 1963 the company's headquarters moved to Los Angeles and in 1968 a new livery was launched, the orange and gold cheatlines adorned with a black global circle on the jet's tails. Later in the 1960s, the airline transported American soldiers to Vietnam, and realizing there was a market in the Pacific Ocean, Continental set up an airline in Micronesia, Air Micronesia. This airline is nowadays known as Continental Micronesia and uses Continental's livery on its jets. 1969 saw service to Honolulu begin, and in 1970, Continental's first Boeing 747 arrived. DC-10s were added to the fleet soon after, and the rest of the 1970s saw Continental's trans-Pacific expansion continue, landing in Auckland and Sydney by 1977.

[edit]

First bankruptcy

In 1978, the Airline Deregulation Act was passed by Congress, creating problems throughout the airline industry that spurred many airline mergers. After considering a merger with Western Airlines, Continental was acquired by Texas International based in Houston in 1982 where the headquarters subsequently moved. The merger gave Continental its current hub at George Bush Intercontinental Airport and its routes to Mexico; it also gave Continental a new CEO, former Texas International chief Frank Lorenzo. In 1983, Continental filed to reorganize under Chapter 11 of the Federal Bankruptcy Code: 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 South Pacific routes. Image:Continental logo73h.gif In 1985, Continental made its first rebound by starting flights from Newark and Houston to London. The company emerged from bankruptcy in 1986. Just one year later, Lorenzo decided to purchase People Express and its hub at Newark, making Continental the third-largest airline in the U.S. (Ironically, People Express's founder and CEO, Don Burr, had originally resigned from his position at Texas International under Lorenzo to found the airline.) 1987 saw the creation of the OnePass frequent flyer program, and in 1988 Continental made its first partnership ever, with SAS.

[edit]

Second bankruptcy

Continental filed for bankruptcy again in 1991, shortly after unveiling a new white and blue livery. There were a number of circumstances behind the second bankruptcy: Lorenzo left Continental to dedicate himself full time to Eastern Airlines, and fuel prices had risen because of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and the resulting Gulf War. People Express had also been highly leveraged at the time of its merger with Continental, having purchased Frontier Airlines just two years before. 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 dollars in the airline. Under the leadership of Gordon Bethune, Continental subsequently ordered new Boeing aircraft - converting to an all-Boeing fleet - and scaled down their expensive Denver hub until it was closed entirely in 1995. Bethune chronicled his experiences in the book From Worst to First.

Image:Continental.b757-200.n19117.bristol.arp.jpg Continental went on to expand its international operations. In 1998, it launched flights to Ireland and Scotland, and in October of 1998 the airline received its first Boeing 777, allowing non stop flights from Newark and Houston to Narita, Japan. Continental also 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. In 2002, Continental announced that it would open a hub at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico to compete with American Airlines.

On March 1, 2001, Continental had a breakthrough by launching 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 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.

On February 22, 2005, the United States Department of Transportation announced that both Continental and American had won a battle with Delta Air Lines to operate flights to China, with Continental offering a daily flight from Newark to Beijing beginning June 15, 2005. With the announcement, both Continental and American, along with United, will become the only three United States based airlines to offer non-stop flights between the United States and Mainland China. (Northwest Airlines operated non-stop flights to Beijing from Detroit from 1996 to 2002). Continental also flies non-stop from Newark to New Delhi and plans to start service from Newark to Shanghai in 2007.

[edit]

Destinations

Template:Further

[edit]

Fleet

Continental's fleet consists entirely of two-class aircraft (First and Economy on domestic flights, and "BusinessFirst" and Economy on international flights). The fleet comprises the following aircraft (at January 2006):

18 Boeing 777-200 - found on intercontinental flights (further 2 on order)
16 Boeing 767-400 - two versions exist; one is used by Continental Micronesia and is also used for mainland flights to Hawaii, while the other has more BusinessFirst seating and is used for flights to Europe and Asia
10 Boeing 767-200
16 Boeing 757-300
41 Boeing 757-200 - used on both domestic and international flights, with domestic flights (shown on the schedule as 757) having 24 regular first class seats, and international flights having 16 BusinessFirst sleeper seats (shown on the schedule as 752)
47 Boeing 737-300
63 Boeing 737-500
36 Boeing 737-700
99 Boeing 737-800
12 Boeing 737-900

In March 2006, Continental fleet average age is 8.5 years old.

In addition, Continental and Boeing announced on December 29 2004, that the airline had agreed to purchase 10 787-824 aircraft from Boeing, with first delivery starting in 2009. This makes Continental the first major US airline, and second US carrier overall (after Primaris Airlines) to order the new advanced plane from Boeing.

Continental Airlines was one of three carriers (American Airlines and Delta Air Lines being the other two) 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 and intend to adhere to the terms under a gentlemen's agreement.

[edit]

Affinity Programs

OnePass, Continental's frequent flyer program, was created in 1987.

The Presidents Club is the membership airport lounge program of Continental Airlines and COPA Airlines. Unlike lounges run by some of its larger competitors, the Presidents Club features an open bar and was the first lounge operated by an American network airline to feature nationwide free WiFi. Although the size of the network, 27 clubs, is small compared to larger airlines, members enjoy full reciprocal privileges at over 40 additional locations including lounges operated by Skyteam partners Delta Air Lines and Aeromexico along with the WorldClubs operated by long-standing partner Northwest Airlines. The most unique lounge is a beautiful former dance club located at Washington D.C.'s National Airport. The Presidents Club, along with the Northwest WorldClubs and Qantas Club is one of few airline lounges that offer lifetime memberships, something that currently costs non-elite members $4,690. (List of locations)

[edit]

Incidents and accidents

Continental Airlines Flight 11 was a Boeing 707 en route from Chicago to Los Angeles on May 22, 1962. A bomb went off in the rear lavatory about 9:30 pm local time. As a result, the tail came off and the plane crashed on a farm near Unionville, Missouri. All 45 onboard died.
Continental Airlines Flight 1713, a Douglas DC-9-14 aircraft, crashed on take-off in a snowstorm from the Denver, Colorado Stapleton International Airport on Sunday, November 15, 1987. The crash resulted in the deaths of 28 of the aircraft's occupants while 54 survived.
Air France Flight 4590 was a Concorde flight from Charles de Gaulle International Airport near Paris, France to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, New York. A piece of metal from a Continental Airlines DC-10 punctured the tires of the Concorde, causing its crash.
On 11 September 1991, Continental Express flight 2574 from Laredo, Texas to Houston Intercontinental Airport crashed upon descent near Eagle Lake, Texas, killing all three crew members and all eleven passengers. The crash was attributed to maintenance error in failing to screw in 47 fasteners on the horizontal stabilizer.
On 2 March 2005, there was an incident at Newark Liberty International Airport with a Continental Airlines Boeing 777-200 aircraft with 14 crew and 198 passengers on board. At rotation the aircraft lifted off the runway and settled back on again before taking off properly. However, the crew were aware that a tail scrape had taken place, so they landed back uneventfully. The rear pressure bulkhead was found to have been damaged (ref: Flight International, July 2005).
On January 16, 2006, at a Continental Airlines contract mechanic was sucked into the engine of a Boeing 737-500. The incident took place at El Paso International Airport, aboard Continental Airlines flight 1515 with nonstop service to Houston Intercontinental Airport.
On January 23, 2006 Troy Rigby of Pompano Beach jumped off flight Continental Airlines Flight 408 with 116 passengers and 5 crew from Ft Lauderdale to Newark while it was sitting at the gate. First class passengers and flight attendants tried and were unable to restrain him as he ran through the cabin and out the emergency exit door.