Continental Airlines 777 at Narita International Airport, taken by Arthur Yu
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Continental Airlines is an American airline. Based in Houston, Texas,
it is the 5th largest airline in the U.S. and the 7th largest in the world. It uses the IATA call code CO.
Continental has hubs in George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas, Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey, Hopkins International Airport in Cleveland, Ohio, and General Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport in Tamuning, Guam. The last hub has operations of its subsidiary, Continental Micronesia
Continental once had a hub at Stapleton Airport in Denver, Colorado. Continental walked out of Stapleton due to high landing
fees, and Stapleton was eventually bulldozed in favor of Denver International Airport.
Continental has partner ownership of Expressjet, which is under the name
Continental Express. They also use Skywest, Cape Air, Commutair, and Gulfstream International Airlines for their Continental Connection service.
Continental was formerly part of the Wings Alliance and has partnerships with Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines They
code-share with Amtrak to some cities in the northeastern United States and with SNCF French Rail
to stations in France. With close partners KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Northwest Airlines, Continental is due to join the SkyTeam
Alliance.
Continental flies to various destinations in the United States,
Canada, Mexico, Central America, South
America, Europe, Southwest
Asia, and East Asia. Its affiliate airline, Continental Micronesia, covers cities in Guam, Hawaii, the Northern Mariana Islands, East Asia, Southeast Asia and Oceania.
History
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 in 1937 after new owner Robert Six had taken over. Six moved the
airline headquarters to Denver 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-27s and
B-29s for the United States
military during World War II.
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.
1958 was the year Continental entered the jet age, using Boeing 707s for the first time.
In the 1960s many things that shaped Continental happened. 1962 saw the airline's first tragedy, with a bomb exploding inside a 707 causing the deaths of 45 people. 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.
During the 1960s the airline transported American soldiers to Vietnam too, 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 it 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 expansion keep on going, landing in Auckland and Sydney
by 1977.
1978 saw the Airline Deregulation Act get passed by congress and this caused great problems for various
established airlines, Continental among them. The next 10 years were problematic inside Continental's institution. In 1982, Continental merged with Texas International, (formerly Trans-Texas Air, which flew
DC-3s as late as the 1960s), retaining the name
Continental. Thus Continental forged a relationship with the controversial Frank Lorenzo for the first time. After this, Continental's central offices relocated to Houston, where they have remained so far.
In 1983 Continental filed to reorganize under Chapter 11 of the Federal Bankruptcy
Code and quickly the airline's rebuilding process began.
By 1985 Continental started flying to Europe.
Continental's first flights to that continent went from Newark and Houston to London.
1986 saw Continental's emergence from Chapter 11 and soon after, it became the third
largest airline in the United States by acquiring Frontier
Airlines and New York
Air.
1987 saw the creation of the OnePass frequent flyer program, and in 1988 Continental
made its first partnership ever, with the Scandinavian Airlines System.
Then came the 1990s. They started with Lorenzo leaving the airline to dedicate himself
full time to Eastern Airlines, and also with the rise of the price
of gas because of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and
the resulting Gulf War. As a consequence of the conflict and the rises, Continental
had to file for bankruptcy again.
In 1991 Continental's current livery using White and Blue prominently on their jets was
unveiled, and 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. This year the airline
ordered 737s, 757s, 767s and 777s to strengthen their fleet.
In 1994 Continental celebrated its 60th anniversary and in 1995 Greg
Brenneman became new Chief Operating Officer.
1998 saw Continental launch flights for the first time ever into the Ireland and Scotland markets, and in October of
1999 the airline received its first Boeing
777 ever, allowing Continental to launch non stop flights from Newark and Houston to Narita, Japan.
That year also saw Continental become partners with Northwest
Airlines and Copa and retire its last 747 from service. Continental had also become
partners with Avant Airlines
of Santiago, Chile and it
was, along with America West, the first two USA airlines to launch the
Interline E-Ticket system.
In 2001, Larry Kellner was named the company's President, and Continental began a partnership with TransBrazil.
In 2002, Continental announced its intentions to open a hub at Luis Munoz Marin International
Airport in San Juan, Puerto
Rico, to compete with American Airlines there. Continental Connection later added its code to Cape Air's Caribbean Operations.
Gordon Bethune became president of the airline in 1994, after
leaving Boeing, and orchestrated a turnaround of the company. He chronicled his experiences in the book From Worst to First.
He became CEO in November 1994 and chairman in September 1996.
Destinations
The list does not include cities only served by Continental
Express, Continental Connection, and/or Continental Micronesia.
United States, U.S. Territories, Canada, and Mexico
Sources
The Continental Airlines 777 picture was taken by Arthur Yu, and taken with permission from Airliners.net
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