Continental Air CEO Says Not Ready for 7E7 or A380 Friday April 30, 3:50 PM EDT SEATTLE (Reuters) - Boeing Co.'s new mid-sized 7E7 jetliner would be a great fit for Continental Airlines, if only the airline had the money to pay for it, the carrier's chief executive said on Friday. "We said we're ready to order, we're just not ready to pay," Continental CEO Gordon Bethune told reporters before taking delivery of the final 757-300 to roll off Boeing's assembly line. Houston-based Continental, the No. 5 U.S. carrier, is also shunning Airbus SAS' mammoth 555-seat A380, which will come to market in 2006. That decision is hardly a surprise, since Bethune is a former Boeing executive who arranged rock-bottom pricing for Continental's all-Boeing fleet. But Bethune also questioned the benefits of flying on an A380, saying Continental's passengers were leery of long lines to board a jet with 600 others and were already getting low transatlantic fares on Continental's current jets. "What's in it for the consumer," Bethune said. "He's already got a $99 (seasonal transatlantic) fare and I say statistically, one out of 600 people smell real bad. He might be sitting next to you." Continental has a young fleet and no need to expand amid weak U.S. demand for air travel. But down the road Bethune expects Continental to order the 7E7, which was formally launched on Monday and is slated to replace Boeing's 757 and 767 models. "We're waiting for you guys to buy more tickets and then we'll be responding appropriately," Bethune said. U.S. air traffic has picked up recently, but traditional airlines like Continental face strong competition from discount carriers that often have lower operating costs, thanks to new fleets and younger workers earning lower wages, Bethune said. "All I have to do is fire everybody every five years" to compete with low-cost carriers, Bethune quipped. Continental has made progress cutting costs, despite high fuel prices. The carrier lost $124 million in the first quarter, improving from a $221 million loss a year earlier. "It's ludicrous to believe that all the new guys are going to win and all the old guys are going to die. The people that stay up with the markets are going to always prevail and you're looking at them," Bethune said.