Continental Air execs got pay cut, no 2003 bonus = = = = Tuesday February 3, 6:47 PM EST = SEATTLE, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Continental Airlines Inc. (CAL), the No. 5 U.S= =2E carrier, on Tuesday said its top two executives took pay cuts and got= no bonus in 2003, a year in which it posted meager profits despite sharp= cost cuts. Chairman and Chief Executive Gordon Bethune earned $882,440 in 2003, down= 49 percent from 2002, when he earned $1.06 million and took home a bonus= of $651,563. Continental President Lawrence Kellner, who will succeed Bethune when he = retires on Jan. 1, 2005, was paid $586,085 with no bonus in 2003, down 51= percent from a combined salary and bonus of $1.2 million in 2002. Both executives were paid less than four other senior officials at the ai= rline who did receive bonuses last year, according to a federal securitie= s filing. Bethune and Kellner have agreed to cap their compensation for the 12-mont= h period beginning April 1, 2003 and to delay incentive-linked payouts. Continental last month posted a $47 million fourth-quarter profit, inflat= ed by one-time gains of $85 million from asset sales, and said high fuel = prices would make it difficult to post a profit this year. = =A92003 Reuters Limited. = Roger EWROPS