news-record.com

WINSTON-SALEM -- US Airways Group Inc. says its chairman and chief executive will visit its Winston-Salem reservation center Thursday as part of the official return of domestic call-center calls to the United States.

Doug Parker will make a formal presentation from noon to 12:30 p.m. at the center, 799 Hanes Mall Blvd. He will be joined by representatives of CWA Local 3640, local elected officials and new hires who will have completed three months of training that day.

The union's collective-bargaining contract required the airline to return all reservation sales and service calls originating in the United States to domestic call centers by today . The Winston-Salem center operates around the clock, primarily handling specialty domestic calls.

In April, the airline said it was bringing as many as 200 jobs to the Hanes Mall center, as well as jobs in Phoenix and Reno, Nev.

On Sept. 9, the airline said it planned to hire at least an additional 200 employees as part of a second wave for the Winston-Salem center. The starting pay is $9.96 an hour.
Parker is expected to focus his remarks on the initial 200 local hiring phase.

"Today's news is a testament to the positive relationship we have with the Airline Customer Service Employee Association," Parker said.

"The addition of 400 jobs is extremely good news for these three communities, for the unions and for our customers who will continue to receive the outstanding service they have come to associate with US Airways."

US Airways has outsourced the latest hiring initiative to PeopleScout of Chicago, but the company also is accepting applications online.

It is not certain how large the current workforce is at the Hanes Mall center. The airline said in December it had 757 jobs overall there, including union and nonunion employees.

Amber Sanders, an airline spokeswoman, said in September that the airline was close to hiring the initial 200 employees for its expansion plan.

In addition to three U.S. reservations call centers, the airline also operates a call center in Liverpool, England. The airline said it will have 1,900 reservation call-center employees by the end of 2011. It handles about 18 million calls annually.

In December, the Winston-Salem City Council approved the airline's request for a one-time incentive of up to $29,250 in return for pledging to add up to 200 jobs.
Derwick Paige, assistant city manager for economic development, said today the city has not made any incentive payments to US Airways. "They would have to go back to council for incentives above the initial 200 jobs created," Paige said.

Forsyth County officials chose not to offer incentives to US Airways because the proposed salaries for the jobs aren't high enough. The county has a guideline that says companies should pay at least $10 an hour to be considered for economic incentives.