Continental Chooses Not to Merge

Continental Airlines, in an April 27 memo to its 45,000 employees, announced that the airline's Board of Directors has decided not to merge with another airlines. Said the memo:

"We have significant cultural, operational and financial strengths compared to the rest of the industry, and we want to protect and enhance those strengths -- which we believe would be placed at risk in a merger with another carrier in today's environment. We will, however, continue to review potential alliances and our membership in SkyTeam. We are considering alternatives to SkyTeam as we carefully evaluate which major global alliance will be best for Continental over the long term."

This is likely a positive move for Cleveland. Continental Airlines is in the middle of a five-year expansion project at Cleveland Hopkins Airport and a merge would quite possibly have affected those plans.

^{(photo courtesy of Continental Airlines)}