500 Continental Agents May Be Laid Off HOUSTON - As many as 500 reservations agents may be laid off by Continental Airlines in September, the air carrier says. The airline said Tuesday the layoffs will happen unless there is a turnaround in the persistently sluggish industry. The Houston-based carrier has already sent out letters to agents about possible furloughs. The letter also notifies agents about early retirement packages and severance the company is offering. "In reservations, our call volume has not returned to pre-9/11 levels, as we had hoped," Martin Hand, a reservations staff vice president, wrote to the agents. "We are right-sizing our operation to meet the current business environment." The airline posted a $124 million first-quarter loss. Officials don't expect to break even or show a profit this year due to high fuel costs. The move by airlines to electronic ticketing has not helped agents' situation. Continental employs about 4,200 reservation agents at three centers located in Tampa, Fla.; Salt Lake City; and Houston. Continental laid off 500 agents last year as part of a larger cut of 1,200 jobs to save $500 million. Roger EWROPS