Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL and CAL.A) announced today that its on-time performance for the month of July was up dramatically over July of last year despite several bad weather days and record load factors. With an average preliminary on-time performance of 80.1 percent for the month compared to 67.9 percent in July 1999, on-time performance showed more than 12 percentage points improvement year-over-year.

Continental also showed an improvement over last month, with July 2000 on-time performance up 7 percentage points over June 2000.

In April, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced plans to improve the air traffic control system by working to enhance communications with airlines on bad weather days. Continental has seen a steady decline in delays during peak travel months this summer, which it attributes in large part to the efforts of the FAA and the hard work of the nation’s air traffic controllers. This achievement also is a result of the airline’s 52,300 employees working together to ensure reliable service despite the severe weather days and heavy loads.

Continental yesterday reported its highest systemwide load factor in company history of 80.4 percent in July.

Continental Airlines is the fifth largest airline in the U.S., offering more than 2,200 departures daily to 136 domestic and 87 international destinations. Operating major hubs in Newark, Houston and Cleveland, Continental (www.continental.com) serves more international cities than any other U.S. carrier, including extensive service throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia.

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