Continental Airlines Named to HISPANIC's 'Corporate 100' List for Eighth Consecutive Year
HOUSTON, Feb. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Continental Airlines has been named for the eighth consecutive year to HISPANIC Magazine's "Hispanic Corporate 100: One Hundred Companies Providing the Most Opportunities for Hispanics," which appears in the January/February 2005 issue. "Diversity is an integral part of Continental Airlines' employee base, as well as our business operations," said Pete Garcia, Staff Vice President, Latin America. "Continental is an industry leader in providing Hispanic- friendly service and Latino community support and we are proud to have earned a place on HISPANIC Magazine's 'Corporate 100' list again this year."
The magazine article highlights Continental's 5-year-old diversity council, whose "seven leaders from senior management ... act as the firm's champions for diversity, with the executives making presentations to such groups as the Houston Minority Business Council," the article says. It also mentions the airline's sponsorship of Hispanic organizations and community events, as well as Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations for employees.
HISPANIC selects companies for the listing based on their diversity training, recruitment efforts, ethnic representation on boards, minority business initiatives, and philanthropic donations to Hispanic communities.
Each year, Continental supports almost 100 Hispanic organizations and events throughout the U.S. and operates a Hispanic outreach partnership called "Volando al Futuro/Flying Toward the Future" with Federal Upward Bound educational programs in Houston, New York City, San Antonio, Chicago, Miami and Los Angeles. "Volando al Futuro" awards airline tickets to high school Upward Bound participants and their parents to make college visits.
Approximately 17 percent of all Continental Airlines employees are Hispanic and 6.1 percent of its management is Hispanic. Garcia, the airline's highest-ranking Hispanic employee, recently was named to the company's Diversity Council. Oscar Munoz, executive vice president and chief financial officer of CSX Corporation, was named to Continental Airlines' Board of Directors in April 2004.
Continental's "Latinization" initiative for Spanish-speaking customers includes bilingual flight attendants and Spanish-language entertainment on board the majority of flights to Latin America; and bilingual customer service representatives and Spanish-language signage, flight information, and eService Center kiosk screens in major U.S. airports. From the U.S. passengers may make reservations in Spanish at 1-800-537-9222, and may call Continental's automated Spanish-language flight-information line at 1-800-579-3938 to obtain up-to-date flight arrival, departure and gate information.
Continental Airlines is the world's sixth-largest airline with more than 3,000 daily departures throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. Continental serves 152 domestic and 122 international destinations -- more than any other airline in the world -- and nearly 400 additional points are served via SkyTeam alliance airlines. With 41,000 employees, the airline has hubs serving New York, Houston, Cleveland and Guam, and carries approximately 55 million passengers per year. In 2004, Continental earned awards and critical acclaim for both its operation and its corporate culture. FORTUNE ranks Continental one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America, an honor it has earned for six consecutive years, and also ranks Continental as the top airline in its Most Admired Global Companies in 2004. The carrier won major awards at the 2004 OAG Airline of the Year Awards including "Airline of the Year," "Best Airline Based in North America" and "Best Executive/Business Class." For more company information, visit continental.com.
CONTACT: Maria Cristina Osorio of Continental Airlines, +1-713-324-5080,or [email protected]
Web site: http://www.continental.com/http://www.continental.com/news
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