() 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 .
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-17 s and
B-29 s 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 707 s did not fly to the East Coast.
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-10 s 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 .
In
1978 , the
Airline Deregulation Act was passed by Congress, creating problems throughout the airline industry that spurred many airline
Merger s. 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.
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 .
Continental filed for bankruptcy again in , 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 ''.
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 .
Continental's all-
Boeing 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 ):
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 .
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 )
- . 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.
