Continental Airlines Again Ranked No. 1 Most Admired Global Airline By FORTUNE Magazine Wednesday February 23, 10:57 AM EST HOUSTON, Feb 23, 2005 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Continental Airlines (CAL) today announced it was again rated the most admired airline among FORTUNE magazine's annual list of Most Admired Global Companies. The carrier also ranked No. 1 in several key categories on FORTUNE's America's Most Admired Companies airline industry list, including innovation, quality of management, social responsibility and quality of products and services. Overall, for the sixth consecutive year, Continental was the most admired international airline on that list. In addition, the airline ranked No. 49 on FORTUNE's Global Most Admired "Top 50" list, which ranks companies in a wide variety of industries. Continental was the only U.S. passenger carrier on the "Top 50" list. The Global Most Admired and America's Most Admired rankings are published in the magazine's March 7, 2005 issue, and online at fortune.com. "Being named the most admired global airline for the second consecutive year is a huge honor and a tribute to the way our employees run a winning operation every day, all around the world," said Larry Kellner, Continental's chairman and CEO. "Even during these years of challenge and change, we've continued to focus on the fundamentals of our business -- providing clean, safe and reliable air transportation -- and have proven ourselves and our product to be the best in the industry again and again." Corporate and airline executives, boards of directors and industry analysts ranked the airlines based on eight criteria: innovativeness, employee talent, use of corporate assets, social responsibility, quality of management, financial soundness, long-term investment value, and quality of products and services.