Continental Airlines Resumes Houston Operations In Aftermath Of Hurricane Rita

Continental Airlines says it's resumed operations at its Houston hub in the aftermath of hurricane Rita and is reporting excellent operational reliability.

Aside from pre-planned schedule reductions announced Saturday that were necessary for an orderly resumption of service, Continental has had no flight cancellations as of this time. Continental operated 249 of its 274 regularly scheduled departures from Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport Sunday. Airline executives said they expected to operate a full, regular schedule on Monday.

"I want to thank my co-workers at Continental for demonstrating tremendous professionalism before, during and after the hurricane," said Chairman and CEO Larry Kellner. "Our ability to achieve this successful resumption of service was made possible by careful planning and execution by co-workers working together throughout the company."

Extra Staffing And Supplies

Nearly 300 Continental employees and TSA security screeners have flown into Houston in the last 24 hours to supplement staff at IAH. After the storm subsided on Saturday, crews ferried 14 aircraft into Houston to position them for today's start-up.

Thousands of meals for airport workers and passengers have been flown into Houston from New York/Newark and other locations.

"I know I speak for all the team in Houston when I give special thanks to all those Continental co-workers in other locations who have supported us here by volunteering to come to Houston to help out and arranging extra resources on our behalf," Kellner said.

Gasoline supplies are being replenished throughout Houston, improving the ability of Continental employees to commute to work.

Re-Ticketing Procedures

Due to Hurricane Rita, Continental is providing customers the option to reschedule or reroute their travel once, without penalty, if they are ticketed to, from or through Texas or Louisiana for travel through Tuesday. Travel must be rescheduled or re-issued by Oct. 3, 2005. A change to origin or destination city may result in additional charges.

FMI: www.continental.com