page_title: Continental Airlines
section_title: 2000s
hierarchical_section_title: Continental Airlines / History / 2000s
caption_attribution_description: English: Daniel2986 05:24, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
context_page_description: Continental Airlines was a major United States airline founded in 1934 and eventually headquartered in Houston, Texas. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers.
  Continental started out as one of the smaller carriers in the United States, known for its limited operations under the regulated era that provided very fine, almost fancy, service against the larger majors in important point-to-point markets, the largest of which was Chicago/Los Angeles. However, deregulation in 1978 changed the competitive landscape and realities, as noted by Smithsonian Airline Historian R.E.G. Davies, "Unfortunately, the policies that had been successful for more than forty years under Six's cavalier style of management were suddenly laid bare as the cold winds of airline deregulation changed all the rules -- specifically, the balance between revenues and expenditures."
  In 1981, Texas International acquired a controlling interest in Continental.
context_section_description: On March 1, 2001, Continental launched a non-stop service from Newark to Hong Kong, operating over the North circumpolar route. It was the first non-stop long-haul route for any airline with flying duration exceeding 16 hours. The service initiated a brief dispute between Continental, United Airlines and Cathay Pacific over rights to non-stop flights between Hong Kong and New York.  On September 13, 2004 Continental entered SkyTeam alliance along with Northwest/KLM and CSA. In 2005, Continental expanded service from Newark to Beijing after being awarded the China route. Among U.S. airlines, only Delta (with its extensive network of legacy routes dating from Delta's acquisition of Pan American's European network) serves more European destinations than Continental.
  In 2005, service to Asia was expanded as Continental introduced daily nonstop service between Newark and New Delhi, India. The success of this Newark-New Delhi route presaged establishment of a second gateway in India with the announcement of daily nonstop service to Mumbai. With the establishment of Mumbai service, Continental offers the most nonstop flights by any carrier from the United States to India. By May 2006, the carrier's passenger traffic surpassed that of Northwest Airlines, and Continental became the fourth-largest U.S. carrier. The Wall Street Journal reported on December 12, 2007 that Continental was in merger discussions with United Airlines. Of issue would be Continental's golden share held by Northwest Airlines and the divestiture of Continental's Guamanian hub. A deal was not "certain or imminent", with the talks being of a preliminary nature. In April 2008, at the height of oil prices, Northwest announced a merger with Delta Air Lines. This allowed Continental to buy back the golden share from Northwest Airlines, which it did. Continental then renewed merger talks with United Airlines, but broke them off again that same month.
  In May 2008, Continental Airlines sold its remaining 4.38 million share investment in Panamanian flag carrier Copa for $35.75 a share, netting proceeds of $149.8 million. Continental had been a principal shareholder in Copa. In June 2008, due to national and international economic conditions, Continental cut 3,000 jobs and the CEO and president had reduced salaries for the remainder of the year. The airline also reduced capacity and eliminated 67 mainline aircraft from its fleet by the end of 2009, retiring all of Continental's 737-300s and all but 35 of its 737-500s. Continental also announced that it planned to withdraw from the SkyTeam Alliance and would join the Star Alliance in order to cooperate more extensively with United Airlines and other Star Alliance airlines. The new Continental-United relationship has been characterized as a "virtual merger" in some circles.
  In September 2008, Continental announced that it would commence providing seasonal non-stop service between Houston and Rio de Janeiro. The new non-stop flight was timed to provide roundtrip flight connections at Continental's Houston hub to more than 160 cities throughout the U.S., Canada, Central America, Europe, and Asia. Continental renewed its lease for around 450,000 square feet (42,000 m²) in Continental Center I. Continental announced that its 4th quarter 2008 net loss widened to $266 million on costs for pilot retirement and reducing the value of its fuel hedges. In January 2009, Continental became the first commercial carrier to successfully demonstrate the use of sustainable biofuel to power an aircraft in North America. During the demonstration flight, Continental's test pilots successfully conducted a number of flight maneuvers, and the biofuel met all performance requirements as compared with traditional jet fuel. The biofuel blend included components derived from algae and jatropha plants, both sustainable, second-generation sources that do not impact food crops or water resources or contribute to deforestation. In March 2009, Continental became the first U.S. carrier to inaugurate scheduled service between New York and Shanghai, China,
caption: Boeing 777-200ER "Peter Max" (the colorful aircraft) at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas (2006). Downtown Houston is visible in the background. The livery was removed in the winter of 2007–2008
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