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Continental Chairman and Chief Executive Lawrence Kellner said in a message to employees that the Houston-based airline was better off alone than merging.

"We have significant cultural, operational and financial strengths compared to the rest of the industry, and we want to protect and enhance those strengths - which we believe would be placed at risk in a merger with another carrier in today's environment," Kellner told employees.

Although it reported an $80 million loss in the first quarter, Continental is widely viewed as the second-strongest U.S. carrier in financial terms, behind only Southwest Airlines Co., which has indicated it isn't interested in a merger.

Continental's decision stunned United's parent, UAL Corp., which had been in advanced talks with Continental and expected to complete a deal by early May.

"We don't want to run overtime for employees just to produce breakfast," said assistant general manager Rick Reynolds. "That doesn't make financial sense."

Employers around the country who thrive on seasonal business are preparing to lose thousands of foreign workers they've hired in past summers to work in restaurants, hotels, landscaping and other industries. New visa controls are cutting the number of temporary foreign workers eligible to return to the country, so employers are scouring job fairs for replacements, lobbying Congress for help and bracing for staff shortages they say will make business tough.

Tourism and hospitality officials envision various problems if the jobs go unfilled: Restaurants may have fewer tables and longer wait-times. Hotel check-in times could be delayed as fewer housekeepers hustle to clean rooms. Resorts may offer fewer meals to guests.

"They will function, they will survive, they will be open - they just won't thrive," warned Jane Nichols Bishop, a Cape Cod consultant who matches up foreign seasonal workers with businesses.

The newspaper's annual Rich List ranked steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal as Britain's wealthiest man for the fourth year running. It put the Indian-born tycoon's fortune at 27.7 billion pounds, or $55 billion, up more than 8 billion pounds from last year.

Russian oil magnate Roman Abramovich, owner of London's Chelsea soccer team, was in second place, with wealth of 11.7 billion pounds, or $23.2 billion.

The Duke of Westminster was in third place with 7 billion pounds ($14 billion). The Briton owns huge parcels of land in central London and elsewhere.

Indian-born industrialists Ari and Gopi Hinduja were in fourth place with wealth of 6.2 billion pounds ($12.4 billion). Russian steel and mining magnate Alisher Usmanov was ranked fifth with wealth of 5.7 billion pounds ($11.4 billion).