Continental Air starts online check-in HOUSTON (Reuters) =97 Continental Airlines said Wednesday it has begun=20 offering online check-in for passengers traveling without checked luggage=20 within the United States. The No. 5 U.S. carrier, which is based in=20 Houston, said the program lets passengers obtain boarding passes at=20 Continental's Web site, bypassing airport ticket counters and ticket=20 kiosks. Delta Air Lines has a similar program. Continental spokeswoman=20 Julie King said passengers will still be required to show identification at= =20 airport screening areas. Like most airlines, Continental is struggling to=20 entice more people to fly as concerns weigh about the possible effects of a= =20 war over Iraq =97 and as increased airport security makes flying more of a= =20 hassle. Federal regulations require customers to obtain boarding passes=20 before going to the gate. "It can save you a little bit of time, but=20 all-in-all there's not much savings," said L. Nick Lacey, executive vice=20 president at Morten Beyer & Agnew, an Arlington, Va.-based aviation=20 consulting firm. "With the level of security concern right now, it's not=20 going to give passengers any security priority or preference." Continental= =20 on Tuesday said war fears are hurting passenger demand throughout its=20 system. It said it expects its March transatlantic load factor, or seats=20 filled, to fall about 15 percentage points from a year ago. The airline=20 said online check-in is available up to 12 hours before scheduled flights=20 and up to one hour before departures. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.dbombo.net/muddyangels/ TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************