NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Nov. 19, 2004--Continental Airlines Inc. (B/Negative/--) announced yesterday that it would seek concessions from its employees to save $500 million in annual costs as part of an ongoing effort to return to profitability. Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said that its ratings and outlook on the company are not affected. Continental's announcement makes it the last of the six "legacy" U.S. airlines to seek labor concessions and was expected. The airline currently has better-than-average operating and labor costs than its legacy peers, but high fuel prices and an increasingly competitive domestic fare environment have left the company unprofitable. Continental should have reasonably good prospects for succeeding in its labor cost cutting goals, though perhaps not
