As UBS analyst Kevin Crissey said in a research note this evening, “The headline figure is bad.”

Ah, yeah. I think you could say that.

Tonight Continental Airlines issued an update to its guidance. The company now expects March passenger unit revenue (RASM) to be down more than 18% year over year. This — despite the airline’s capacity cuts. And everybody’s else’s capacity cuts as well.

Continental also said that it is not yet seeing any kind of “stabilization in demand” that some other carriers have indicated of late they are experiencing.

On the plus side, the airline did say that they should beat their own cost guidance for the first quarter.

Woo hoo.