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 IT’S NICE TO FLY WITH a winner, and you’re on one today. Fortune magazine has rated Continental the most admired U.S. airline in its America’s Most Admired companies list.
Soon after getting news of that distinction, Continental learned it was also again rated the top airline on Fortune’s list of Most Admired Global Companies. This is the third consecutive year that Continental has topped that list. Among global airlines, Continental was cited first in eight key categories: globalness, innovation, employee talent, use of corporate assets, social responsibility, quality of management, long-term investment, and quality of products/services.
The rankings are determined by a survey of industry analysts, boards of directors, and corporate and airline executives.
— Lockwood Tallman
| Fortune Rankings |
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U.S. AIRLINES
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GLOBAL AIRLINES
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- Continental Airlines
- Southwest Airlines
- AMR
- Alaska Air Group
- ExpressJet Holdings
- America West Holdings
- Northwest Airlines
- Delta Air Lines
- UAL
- US Airways Group
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- Continental Airlines
- Singapore Airlines
- British Airways
- Lufthansa Group
- Air France–KLM Group
- Japan Airlines
- AMR
- All Nippon Airways
- Northwest Airlines
- Delta Air Lines
- UAL
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TRAVELERS TAKING ADVANTAGE OF CONTINENTAL’S new service to barcelona starting this month may want to stay at the Hotel Arts Barcelona. Located just seven miles from the city’s airport, this 44-story building, with its exposed glass and steel, is one of the tallest structures in Spain and a prominent feature of Barcelona’s skyline. Guests staying at the Hotel Arts are just a short distance from the city’s bars, restaurants, and shops, as well as the Picasso Museum and the beach.
The hotel’s 482 rooms include double rooms, executive suites, and duplex apartments, plus a Japanese Suite and a Presidential Suite. For guests wanting privacy, the Club, located between floors 30 and 33, offers separately keyed floors, a private lounge, meeting rooms, and concierge staff.
The wide variety of restaurants should satisfy all kinds of dining needs. Guests can enjoy a breakfast buffet, a quick snack, or an elegant meal with a wine list and the finest in Mediterranean cuisine. The hotel’s fitness center includes a fully equipped gymnasium, steam room, sauna, swimming pool, and massage rooms. hotelartsbarcelona.com
— Martin DeLeon
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Celebrating Broadway
May is an exciting month on Broadway, with new productions opening almost nightly in order to qualify for Broadway’s highest honors, the American Theatre Wing’s Tony Awards. The Tony nominations are announced on Tuesday, May 16.
New York hosts many special events for theatergoers in the weeks leading up to the award ceremony. As the official airline of Broadway, Continental gets in on the act by presenting “Broadway’s Stars in the Alley,®” an annual outdoor festival in the heart of Manhattan’s Theatre District. The free event is co-sponsored by Sprint and The New York Times. The fun begins at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, June 7, in Shubert Alley, off 45th Street just west of Broadway, in New York City.
Continental OnePass members can use their miles to bid on special behind-the-scenes access and VIP seating at Stars in the Alley. Visit auction.continental.com for information on this and other OnePass auctions.
Continental is also the official airline of the 60th annual Tony Awards ceremony, which takes place Sunday, June 11. Presented by the Wing and the League of American Theatres and Producers, the Tonys will be telecast on CBS live from Radio City Music Hall at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Log on to tonyawards.com for frequent Tony Award updates. For more Broadway stories, see Go Culture.
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hopping home
At the end of a trip, many travelers rejoice at stepping on a Continental jet for a nice flight home. That’s the feeling one couple had in March, when Continental Micronesia took them back where they belonged after they were lost at sea.
The
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Botara and Taate Toakai Betaia prepare for their flight home. They were given a send-off by Anthony Mori (left), Continental Micronesia’s manager on Chuuk. |
couple, residents of the Pacific island republic of Kiribati, were swept more than 1,000 miles west after the outboard motor failed on their 19-foot wooden boat. What was meant to be a brief trip to pick up their 10-year-old son on an outer island on December 30 turned into 35 days adrift in the South Pacific.
Taate Toakai Betaia and her husband, Botara Betaia, survived by catching rainwater in a raincoat and eating raw fish they reeled aboard. They lacked anything more than loose plywood for shelter from the sun.
After they recuperated on the island of Chuuk, Continental Micronesia had the Betaias’ ticket home. The Guam-based subsidiary of Continental Airlines put them on the eastbound Island Hopper, a 737 that flies regularly between Guam and Honolulu, stopping at a series of interesting islands along the way.
“The Betaias surviving the vastness of this ocean is nothing short of a miracle,” said Continental Micronesia President and Chief Executive Officer Mark Erwin. “We were extremely pleased to be able to reunite them with their son.”
— L.T.
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wings to fly
Captain  Roscoe Edwards believes you have to teach by example. Over more than 12 years, he has touched the lives of hundreds of inner-city kids in Houston by mentoring them on careers in aviation. Edwards shares his passion for flying, teaching the kids how to fly in one of three airplanes used by the Raiders-Tigers Flying Club, a nonprofit organization.
In addition to running the club, Edwards, a pilot with Continental for 19 years, spends countless hours as an active member of the Organization of Black Airline Pilots, visiting schools to tell young African-American men and women about opportunities in the airline industry. The effort has been so successful that several students who have heard Edwards speak are now full-time employees at either Continental Airlines or its regional carrier, Continental Express.
“These kids don’t have a lot of opportunities, financial means, or know-how to become a pilot,” says Edwards. “They just have to show an interest and we’ll teach them how to fly.”
In addition to his duties as a Boeing 737 captain and serving on the new-hire interview panel at Continental Airlines, Edwards has overcome several obstacles in his own career path. As an examiner for the Federal Aviation Administration in the Southwest region, he was the first African-American to be appointed to certify other pilots. His passion for flying and dedication to inner-city youth will surely inspire more kids to earn their wings and fly with the best, just as Captain Edwards has.
— Julie King
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new flights to new destinations
Continental Airlines continues its international expansion this month, launching nonstop daily flights between its New York hub at Newark Liberty International Airport and Barcelona, Spain; Cologne, Germany; Copenhagen, Denmark; and Moncton, New Brunswick. For reservations and ticketing information, visit continental.com.
— J.K. /i>
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