Not Worth A Continental

The saying "Not Worth A Continental" dates back to the Revolutionary War and the inflationary paper money put out by the Continental Congress to pay for the the costs of the war. The Continental Congress issued over $241,552,780 in continental notes. The notes rapidly became worth less than the paper they were printed on due to inflation and a lack of any backing to the currency.

We do have a history of our government trying to print our way out of our expenses....

However, that's not the Continental in the news today. Yet another item is about to reaffirm the adage "not worth a Continental".

It appears that Continental Airlines is about to be no more.

The Detroit Free Press: Continental Airlines will be history after tonight

Metro Detroiters who lived through the merger of Delta and Northwest airlines will not be surprised to learn that as of Saturday morning, another airline brand will vanish.

Tonight is the final step in the merger of United and Continental Airlines. The last Continental flight will leave Phoenix for Cleveland at 11:59 p.m. today. Just after that, the reservations systems of the two airlines will merge. The code CO (Continental) will disappear. By Saturday morning, the merged airline will use only the United name and the United website. And Continental will be history.

I found Continental to be more reliable and pleasant than that other now-merged airline that operated out of DTW and has now passed on thankfully taken over by Delta: Northworst.

Then again I've always liked flying United, especially when the pilots allowed channel 9 on the audio to be active and you could listen in to air traffic control and the pilot's communication with ATC.

So, farewell to yet another Continental, proving yet again that the way to make a small fortune in the aviation business is to start out with a large one.