Continental, Air France to Form Alliance

HOUSTON — Continental Airlines and Air France signed an agreement Tuesday to blend schedules and share passenger check-ins, allowing greater convenience for passengers flying across the Atlantic.

“We will coordinate our schedules in such a way to allow passengers to connect seamlessly,” Robert Ferguson, president and chief executive of Houston-based Continental, said.

Under the agreement, which takes effect Nov. 1 and should be in operation April 1, the two carriers also will share frequent-flyer programs, exchange executives and share ground maintenance crews. The firms also will have joint advertising, promotions and tour packages.

The move gives Continental access to European, Middle East and some Asian airports served by Air France, and gives the French carrier access to Continental’s American hubs.

Passengers will be able to check in to a final destination and get seat assignments, boarding passes and baggage handling for both carriers.

Continental recently emerged from its second bankruptcy in a decade. Ferguson denied that the agreement was necessary for Continental to survive, saying it was “helpful, but not critical.”

Air Canada, half of the investment team that put $450 million into Continental to help the carrier out of its latest bankruptcy, already has a marketing arrangement with Air France. Air France also has a similar arrangement with Aeromexico.

But Ferguson and Bernard Attali, chairman of Groupe Air France, said there would be no immediate code sharing, an industry practice that allows airlines to promote and sell two-leg flights as if they were on a single carrier.

The coordinated schedules will allow multiple connecting flights in Paris, Newark and Houston, where the carriers will share the same terminals.

As part of the deal, Continental will move its Paris operation from Orly Airport to Charles de Gaulle Airport. Air France will move its Newark operation to share a terminal with Continental.