Airline fights winter storms

Continental Airlines Inc. says the back-to-back snowstorms that shut down its New York area hub twice last month cost it $25 million in lost revenue. The loss was not as severe as it might have been due to the timing of the storms, which hit in a traditionally weak month for air travel. Continental lost $50 million when Hurricane Ike shut down its Houston hub for more than two days in September 2008.

Snow and high winds caused the airline to stop operations at the Newark Liberty Airport in New Jersey on Feb. 10 and Feb. 26, canceling hundreds of flights. According to FlightStats figures, Newark was hit the hardest on Feb. 26, canceling 389 flights, about 84 percent of its scheduled arrival service.

Continental operates about 2,500 flights a day in the U.S. and around the world. It has major hubs in Houston, Newark and Cleveland.