http://www.bloomberg.com/fgcgi.cgi?T...OATRZSQ29udGlu

Continental Air's Bethune Comments on Outlook, Consolidation
By Todd J. Shriber


Newark, New Jersey, March 28 (Bloomberg) -- Continental Airlines Inc.'s Chairman and Chief Executive Gordon Bethune comments on the fifth-largest U.S. carrier's outlook and consolidation in the airline industry. The comments were made at the opening of a $1.4 billion terminal expansion at Newark International Airport in New Jersey. Continental is based in Houston.

``I think the airline industry is done with consolidation for a while. The companies just don't have their financials in order right now. Continental can stand alone and we don't need help in running our business. I think we're always mentioned as a takeover target because other airlines want what we have.''

``Look at us and Southwest Airlines, we're two of the best companies to work for and we have the best customer service. Consolidation will be over for only so long in the industry because the market picks the winners and losers, and there will always be winning airlines and failing airlines.''

``I feel we'll be profitable at the times we said we would this year. Obviously, we'd like to be there sooner. We didn't cut back after Sept. 11 to the extent our rivals did and we spent money on other areas of our business, including adding more room in our coach-class cabins.''

``We're headed in the right direction. A lot of airlines hyperventilated after Sept. 11. We're comfortable with our business outlook and know that we'll make money in the second half. The more markets we fly to, the more customers we'll gain because they'll experience better service. That will help raise profits.''

Quote:

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">including adding more room in our coach-class cabins</font>

WHAT?!?!!?!?!?!?

here's to hoping that something like MRTC is coming to CO

[This message has been edited by EWR-COflyer (edited 03-29-2002).]

I think that Gordo's refering to "More Room in the Overheads"

If you can fit through the baggage sizers you don't have a problem.

I think the transcript is incorrect. I believe his full comments were "including adding more room in our coach-class cabins for our elite customers. This enhancement will allow us to make more room in first class for our non-revenue passengers".

[This message has been edited by milesmilesmiles (edited 03-29-2002).]

Well, I'll give them a few days to clarify the "including adding more room in our coach-class cabins" statement.

I am seriously hopeful that was a *leak* of sorts about something good around the corner.

EDIT: I have to admit that Gordo's tone is a bit better than this gem from HP:

[This message has been edited by EWR-COflyer (edited 03-29-2002).]

"The more markets we fly to, the more customers we'll gain"

Well, they've just sliced their western markets with a Butcher's knife thanks to canning HP... wonder if this was stated before then?

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Faire du ciel le plus bel endroit de la terre c'est impossible sans Concorde!
~ConcordeBoy

I will continue to maintain that CO has a master plan to redevelop a Western hub, i.e. DEN.

It will quite a ballsy move if they do it in this economy, but I think they have the arrogance to convince themselves that they can pull it off. I sure hope they do...

It is not a conincidence that they just severed ties w/ HP and F9. Gordo made it clear that they believe "Continental can stand alone." Everything in the corporate world is said for a reason.

I'm quite confident that we're going to see a lot of CO metal out West soon... although, it might be those little ones w/ no FC

CO HAD a hub in DEN. When the city moved the airport out to Wyoming , they increased the fees there significantly. CO was losing money by the boatload then, so they pulled out of DEN.

CO has a number of employees who live in DEN and still have a P-CLub there, but unless they have gotten a sweatheart of a deal, I would bet against this.

Actually, I believe DIA is closer to Nebraska or Kansas than Wyoming, but I won't debate minutiae.

I think one of the reasons CO pulled out of DEN was the fact that the city closed Stapleton permanently. CO promised to stay, I believe, if they could continue to use the old airport as a maintenance facility. When the city said no, CO went away.

But doesn't CO still have a massive maintenance facility in DEN? I seem to recall what appeared to be a huge hangar w/ their logo on it... I mean, there was a time when they operated 225+ flights a day there, they had to have a service facility...

but then again, I was in so many airports last week they all kind of blended together...

If CO is planning to come back big in DEN, they've got an interesting way of doing it. Didn't they close a DEN F/A base (or maybe it was a res. center) right after 9/11?

From 9/20/01 PR...

Continental also is closing its Denver Reservations Center, which will eliminate approximately 950 jobs. However, due to their seniority, many Denver Reservations agents will have the option of transferring to other reservations centers in Houston, Salt Lake City and Tampa. The closure of the Denver Reservations facility offers significant cost savings that help to reduce the number of job furloughs.

At least as of last summer, I think they still had maintenance bases at HOU (I don't mean IAH, although they probably have one there too), LAX, and HNL. None of these airports have a significant amount of flights these days (none at HOU) but it's probably expensive to re-locate a maintenance base. Closing them is another matter if they have more than they need.

I seem to recall that CO used to have e hub somewhere out near Denver. They pulled the plug and shut out the lights.