Continental grounds 72 planes

By Leticia Williams, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 6:03 PM ET Oct. 15, 2001

WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- Continental Airlines grounded 72 of its aircraft Monday as a result of the reduction in scheduled flights flown since the terrorist attacks Sept. 11.

In line with cutbacks to capacity across the airline industry following the attacks, Continental said it has temporarily grounded all 25 of its DC 10-30 aircraft, 30 of its MD-80 aircraft, 11 of its EMB-120 turboprop aircraft and 6 of its ATR-42 turboprop aircraft.

"It is possible that all or a significant portion of these aircraft will be permanently removed from service at a later date, resulting in a special charge for impairment and exit costs," the company stated in the filing.

Continental (CAL: news, chart, profile) also said in the filing that any charge related to the removal of planes from its fleet would be material and would also affect its compliance with covenants under its bank debt, with a principal amount outstanding of about $356 million.

The company said that whether the grounded planes will return to service depends on demand and yield in the coming months.

Shares of the Houston-based airliner closed Monday at $18.73, up 23 cents.

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-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), October 16, 2001

Answers

Leticia Williams is about a month late and 30 dollars short in reporting this piece. This is old news.

-- Steve McClendon (ke6bjd@yahoo.com), October 16, 2001.