The Airchive-Continental Timetables

		July 1940 The legendary Robert F. Six had just taken over Varney Speedlines and renamed it Continental a few years earlier. The renaming of the airline showed grand aspirations which would happen on his watch. At this time, the airline was pretty much limited to a north/south route structure from Denver to El Paso using Lockheed L-10 Electras.
		April 26, 1959 Continental introduced it’s 4 707-100s to LAX, Denver, Kansas City, and Chicago in 1959. The Golden Jets had the most luxurious interior and the sky. When one of it’s 707s was lost in 1960, Continental pioneered progressive maintenance and the quick turnaround, producing the highest fleet utilization per day in the world.
		April 29, 1962 Continental began the introduction of Boeing 720s and Viscount Turboprops to supplement its 707s in the early 1960s. Headquarters were still located in Denver, but would move to Los Angeles by the late 1960s. Special Thanks to: Chris Cummings
		May 24, 1965 Continetal’s route structure remained fairly inert in the early 60s but service innovations continued on The Golden Jet’s.
		June 1, 1966 Continetal’s route structure remained fairly inert in the early 60s but service innovations continued on The Golden Jets.
		June 1, 1972 Continental founded Air Micronesia with 1 DC-6B and 1 727-100 in 1968 to serve the U.S. Pacific Micronesian Islands. “Air Mike” has grown to be a profitable part of the system, with DC-10s, 757s, and 737 NGs.
		1976 Air Micronesia in 1976.
		April 24, 1977 Continental’s route structure was virtually unchanged through most of the 70’s. Service was concentrated at Los Angeles, Houston, and Denver. Newark wasn’t even served until the early 80s. Continental’s “Proud Bird with a Golden Tail” was replaced with the new campaign seen on the cover. At the time, the airline was very profitable and operated a efficient DC-10 and 727 fleet. From 1977-80, Continental and Western Airlines flirted on and off with merger.
		June 1, 1982 Parent Corporation merged Texas International and Continental on June 1, 1982. This was just Frank Lorenzo’s first disastrous example of 1 + 1 does not equal 2. A little over a year later, Continental would be in bankruptcy for the first time. At the time of the merger, Continental served Micronesia, Hawaii, Mexico, the South Pacific, and domestic destinations from the Denver and Houston hubs. At this time, Newark and Cleveland were still years from being hubs.
		April 24, 1983 - New York Air Never as successful as it’s People Express competitor, New York Air launched in 1980 at Laguardia, by Frank Lorenzo's Texas Air, with low-cost high-quality service. This created friction within the industry as the highly unionized Texas International pilots proteseted the separate carrier with its lower cost union contract. NYA was eventually absorbed into Continental in February 1987 at the time of the Peoples Express megere.
		August 1, 1983 This is Continental's last schedule before the September, 1983 Chapter 11 bankruptcy which would see a brief shutdown of all domestic U.S. services, before restarting as a much smaller airline (see next timetable). The Pacific and Air Micronesia operations continued through the entire period uninterrupted and relatively profitable. This shutdown was Lorenzo's first attempt to break the union ranks of the airline as he tried to get CO flightcrew costs more in line with the former Texas International. Special Thanks to: Chris Cummings chris@irisreg.com
		February 1, 1984 Just 3 years before its takeover of People Express and 5 months after bankruptcy, Continental was a radically pruned low cost carrier centered around hubs at Denver and Houston. The former headquarters and hub at LAX was left with only limited service. Notice service was reinstated at Newark which would become CO's second biggest hub in 1987.
		February 1, 1987 Continental absorbed People Express and it’s Newark hub, and New York Air on February 1, 1987. People, having just digested Frontier, was in severe financial duress and though this merger established Continental as a major “Big Six” carrier, Continental would wind up again bankrupt in 1991. At the time of the merger, 737s entered the system as did 747s giving Continental an overly diverse fleet.
		1989 - Continental Pacific Route System
		June 14, 1991 On June 14, 1991 Continental sought to repair it’s tattered image by introducing a new business-like look emphasizing it’s global reach. Replacing “the red meatball” was a globe icon based on the real thing seen on the cover at the site of the 1964 New York World’s Fair. Unfortunately, the terrible regime of Frank Lorenzo, A recession, over-expansion, indigestion from acquiring 4 airlines, low employee morale, and an overly diverse fleet containing all DC-9s, 737s, 757s, 747s, 727s, A-300 B4s, and DC-10s landed the carrier in the dire straits of bankruptcy (again). The Denver hub was declining in influence at this point.
		1991 Route System
		December 15, 1994 In 1994, Continental was at the brink of the abyss. Employee morale, operations, and the balance sheet were all in horrendous shape. Things would turnaround very quickly with the arrival of Gordon M Bethune earlier in the year.
		May 1, 1995 By 1995, Continental began to recover from its 1994 nadir. Special Thanks to: Chris Cummings chris@irisreg.com
		June 14, 1997 By 1997 Continental had risen to the top of profitability, employee morale, and customer satisfaction under the leadership of Gordon Berthune. Continental’s route map spanned Asia, South America, Europe, and the U.S. from hubs in Newark and Cleveland. The Denver hub had been wound down in 1994 before the opening of the new Denver International Airport.


		April 1, 2001 Special Thanks to: Chris Cummings chris@irisreg.com
		September 5, 2001 Of all the major carriers, Continental along with American, has weathered the crisis the best. Continentals employees, reduced costs, and diversified route network are it’s chief assets. As of 2001, Continental still had extensive routes to Europe, Asia, South America, and was pursuing closer code-sharing with shareholder Northwest. Founder Robert F. Six could scarcely imagine the airlines serving far flung destinations such as Rio De Janeiro, Tel Aviv, and Hong Kong. In late 2001, Continental inaugurated the world’s longest flight, a 777 from Newark to Hong Kong. The DC-10's were finally retired in October 2001 after 29 years in service.
		July 1, 2003 Domestic and International Route Map These route maps came from the in-flight magazine.
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