Continental Airlines ( ) is a United States certificated air carrier. Based in Houston, Texas, it is the fourth-largest airline in the U.S. and the fifth-largest in the world by revenue passenger miles. Continental's marketing slogan, since 1998, has been Work Hard, Fly Right.

Continental operates to destinations throughout the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region. It has more than 3,000 daily departures, serving 151 domestic and 120 international destinations and has 42,200 employees (at March 2007). Principal operations are from its three hubs at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (in Cleveland, Ohio), George Bush Intercontinental Airport (in Houston, Texas), and Newark Liberty International Airport (in Newark, New Jersey). Continental Micronesia, a wholly owned subsidiary, operates routes around Micronesia from its hub at Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport on Guam and connects the Micronesian region with destinations in East Asia, Southeast Asia, Honolulu and Cairns, Australia.

Continental Airlines is a minority owner of ExpressJet Airlines, which operates under the trade name Continental Express but is a separately managed and publicly-traded company. They are also a minority owner of Copa Airlines. Cape Air, Colgan Air, CommutAir, and Gulfstream International Airlines feed Continental's flights under the Continental Connection identity, as does Chautauqua Airlines under the Continental Express identity; Continental does not have any ownership interests in these companies.

Since September 2004, Continental has been a member of the SkyTeam Alliance, in which it participates with Northwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Air France, Aeromexico and KLM. In addition to extensive code share arrangements with SkyTeam partner airlines, the airline also code-shares with Amtrak rail services to some cities in the northeastern United States, and with SNCF French Rail to destinations in France.