HOUSTON – Continental Airlines Inc. is recalling 132 pilots who were furloughed in 2008, saying it needs them to offset retirements and handle an increase in international flying.

Continental spokeswoman Julie King said the additional pilots would cover the company's needs over the next 18 months.

So far this year, Continental's traffic is running about 3 percent higher than a year ago due to international traffic, which is up 6.5 percent. Domestic traffic has fallen 1 percent compared with the same months in 2009.

Revenue is surging thanks to higher fares and fees on many services. Second-quarter revenue jumped 19 percent compared with a year earlier.

The move could help Houston-based Continental build labor support as it carries out a plan to combine with UAL Corp.'s United Airlines. Continental is the nation's fourth-largest airline and United is third. Together, they would create the world's biggest airline.

U.S. regulators approved the deal last week, and shareholders for both airlines are scheduled to vote in two weeks.

Earlier this year, Continental recalled 15 of the 147 pilots it furloughed in September 2008. The latest group to be recalled are expected to start retraining in the last three months of the year.

Jay Pierce, chairman of the Continental branch of the Air Line Pilots Association, said the latest callbacks were "good news for all of our pilots and their families" and needed to maintain the airline's flight schedule.

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FORT WORTH, Texas – American Eagle, which operates regional flights for American Airlines, said Friday that August traffic soared 13.8 percent higher compared with a year ago.

That sharply beat the 3.1 percent traffic increase on American.

Eagle said paying passengers flew 776 million miles last month, compared with 682.2 million miles in August 2009.

Eagle increased capacity by 13.2 percent, to 1.06 billion available seat miles, or miles flown times seats.

The average plane was 73.1 percent full, up from 72.7 percent a year earlier.

For the first eight months of the year, traffic rose 7 percent, capacity increased 6.6 percent, and the average occupancy rose to 72.1 percent from 71.8 percent a year ago.

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CANON CITY, Colo. – It's happy trails for Buckskin Joe, the replica Old West town that served as a setting for Westerns that include "True Grit" and "White Buffalo."

Owner Greg Tabuteau said Friday he sold the tourist attraction near Canon City, along with neighboring Royal Gorge Scenic Railroad. The new owner plans to dismantle it and move it elsewhere in Colorado, but Tabuteau won't identify the buyer.

He said he isn't certain whether Buckskin Joe — named after a former mining town — will remain open to the public or used privately as a movie set in its new location.

The town, which entertains visitors with dramatized shootouts and hangings, will remain open through Sept. 12, as first reported by the Pueblo Chieftain. It was designed in 1957 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer producer Malcolm F. Brown using real remnants of old Colorado mining towns.

Tabuteau said he's selling partly because the summer season is shorter now that school starts earlier, and because he doesn't think the cash-strapped state has done enough to promote tourism. After 40 years working tourist season, he's ready for a break.

"I want to have a summer vacation," Tabuteau said.

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