Interview with Jim Compton, Continental's executive vice-president and chief marketing officer

Continental's executive vice-president and chief marketing officer

Six months after making the switch from SkyTeam to Star Alliance, Continental Airlines has mostly gained, but also lost a service at its New York/Newark hub. Routes News speaks with Jim Compton, Continental's executive vice-president and chief marketing officer about the excitement surrounding its Munich route launch and the decision to cut its westbound service from Bristol, which it had served for five years.

Continental Airlines, together with Continental Express and Continental Connection, serves 133 domestic and 135 international destinations throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia.

Joining the Star Alliance last year (the largest of the alliances) has created new possibilities for the carrier's global network, says Jim Compton. He has been part of Continental's management team for over 15 years and now serves as executive vice-president and chief marketing officer. "We can now offer our customers seamless connections on our partners to virtually any destination worldwide. Our newly-launched New York-Munich service is an example of us adding new service to exploit this potential," he says. Compton has been promoting the service, alongside his other day-to-day responsibilities, including domestic and international sales, corporate development and alliances, marketing, network pricing and revenue management, scheduling, and distribution.

Continental's new daily New York/Newark - Munich service is designed to complement its new Star Alliance partner, Lufthansa's schedule. Compton highlights the significance of the route. "Munich is the largest market in Europe not yet served by Continental, so this is the logical next step in developing our network of trans-Atlantic services from New York. Also, Munich is the second-largest hub for Lufthansa and in the trans-Atlantic joint venture we are planning, so Munich will become an important connection point for us in the future."

The service is operated using Boeing 767-200ERs, with 174 seats - 25 in BusinessFirst and 149 in Economy Class, which Compton says is a well-suited aircraft and configuration mix for the route.

He adds: "Continental is a full-service carrier and we are going after the corporate travel market, particularly with our BusinessFirst product. Overall we are tapping all markets and welcome all types of customer. As in any market, the actual mix of business to leisure traffic will vary from month to month."

Growth of the Newark Hub

The table below illustrates the range of European destinations available from Newark and how Continental Airlines has grown the network in the last five years.

But not all of Continental's Newark routes have performed so well. The carrier has just confirmed it will drop its westbound service from the UK's regional airport, Bristol to Newark in September. "We have regretfully taken this decision because of continuing operational losses, despite the best efforts of both Continental and Bristol Airport to promote the service," he told Routes News.

No network changes are planned to Continental's services to other UK cities, he adds, apart from in London, where Continental continues to build its presence at Heathrow. "We added a fourth daily service to New York/Newark on March 28th and will add a fifth on October 31st. When you include our Houston flights, by the end of the year we will have a total of seven daily departures from Heathrow."

Continental is also focused on the Latin Americas. "We're looking forward to starting services to our 30^th destination in Mexico - Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas - from Houston on June 9, subject to government approval. We already serve more destinations in Mexico from the U.S. than any other airline."

Meanwhile, in the Pacific, the carrier has applied for the right to serve Tokyo's Haneda Airport from its New York/Newark and Guam hubs.