Continental, United cut Mexico flights on flu fears

Starting Monday, the Chicago-based carrier said it would reduce flight departures by 60 percent for the month of May to just 24 flights a week.

For the month of June, United will offer 52 weekly flights, cut down from 90 flights per week.

"We are responding quickly, adjusting our schedule to match customer interest," said John Tague, United's chief operating office, in a statement.

Earlier on Friday, Continental Airlines Inc said it had temporarily reduced service to Mexico, citing lower demand as a deadly strain of flu spreads.

In a statement, the carrier said it would cut by about 50 percent its capacity to Mexico, which has reported 176 deaths from the new strain of Influenza A (H1N1) -- originally called swine flu.

The changes are effective Monday. Continental added that it would reduce flight departures by about 40 percent. The carrier said the reductions amount to about 2 percent of its systemwide capacity for May, compared with its original schedule.

United has less than 2 percent of its consolidated capacity dedicated to Mexico, according to the statement.

Continental and United are the first major U.S. carriers to curb service to Mexico amid the spread of wine flu, which has reached at least 13 countries including the United States, Germany, the Netherlands and Hong Kong.

The World Health Organization says experts do not yet know enough about the new flu strain to say how deadly it is and how long any potential pandemic may last.