A Little Reminder About Manila

[Headhunter]

Last year someone on here posted that they saw evidence about US establishing a call center in Manila. The company was quick to try and squash that rumor by saying that we utilize the services of General Sales Agents (GSAs) around the world, including the Philippines, and that was the case for Manila.

And now Kerry Carstairs is set to travel to Manila for a site visit in the next week or two. Ha!

If someone could please either find the original post (it may have been lost when they upgraded boards) and/or the US response (I think it was on US Today/Daily)...

 

[Headhunter]

I found it!

"The danger of believing and repeating unverified
information was never more apparent than in an
Internet discussion that started this week. In this
particular case, it centered on the recent appointment
of a General Sales Agent (GSA) for US Airways in the
Philippines. (US Airways uses GSAs around the world in
locations where the airline does not fly to handle
sales inquiries and promotions of domestic U.S.
travel.) That news led to a message board posting that
a high-ranking company official had gone to Manilla to
investigate opening a call center there. This
implication is an unfounded rumor. Chris Chiames,
senior vice president of Corporate Affairs, said,
Making unsubstantiated claims and leaping to
conclusions seems to be a favorite sport on Internet
chat boards. While we can't respond to every such
statement that appears, this example is typical of how
destructive such speculation can be for our employees.
I would encourage anyone who visits these sites to
read these postings from anonymous sources with
skepticism."

So does Mr. Chiames deny what happened now?!
People go to these "anonymous sources" because the information is far more timely and accurate than what Mr. Chiames' department of "Corporate and Consumer Affairs" provides!

 

[700UW]

And remember this one from Mr Chiames:

PITguy, I apologize for the delay. I haven't been online and just saw your note.
We are not going to outsource heavy maintenance in PIT or elsewhere. We never even proposed it. (Unlike UA which has proposed the outsourcing of heavy maintenance.)
We will pay all furlough pay as provided for in the contract.
We have no further plans to lay off more mechanics beyond what is published. With the new commitment to operate 279 a/c, we will need just about all the mechanics on the property to perform the maintenance we have scheduled, since our fleet plan anticipated retiring some planes that we will now be flying.
Finally, we are not trying to vendor maintenance with either Boeing or Airbus.
Chris Chiames

[post="36648"][/post]​

 

[USAirUnited]

Lies Lies Lies. One day there will be a backlash from this outsourcing crap. The White House thinks its good business sending American jobs overseas, the American middle class worker begs to differ. "Made in America" was always a label of pride and integrity, now its a label of broken dreams, and unemployment checks. When will everyone wake up from this hypnotic state?

 

[Headhunter]

"We are not going to outsource heavy maintenance in PIT or elsewhere. We never even proposed it.... Chris Chiames"

Wow. Right there in black and white. Thanks, 700UW.

Even if someone isn't against outsourcing or other actions this management team has taken... that same person should be appalled at these outright LIES.

Why can't management be upfront with us?

If Chiames had owned up to any of this in '03 and '04... that would've given people some time to go on with their lives.

They must've been hoping to squeeze every bit out of everyone, right down to the last minute. Like our employees aren't smarter than that.

 

[wnbubbleboy]

Lies Lies Lies. One day there will be a backlash from this outsourcing crap. The White House thinks its good business sending American jobs overseas, the American middle class worker begs to differ. "Made in America" was always a label of pride and integrity, now its a label of broken dreams, and unemployment checks. When will everyone wake up from this hypnotic state?

[post="264393"][/post]​

There is no good news in this industry. Dumping pensions on the government and the taxpayer and then going overseas to hire cheaper labor.

Having "US" in your title implies you are an American product. Outsourcing calls to another country! Who feels safe having to give someone their credit card information to a Agent that is in an different country?

Also, this is a slap in the face to ALL workers that that have given their jobs for the survial of the company.

Of course Goverment will let this happen because they are bought and paid for.

With the way the governement is going now. We need to have the House and Senate be more like NASCAR. Have them wear patches of their sponsers on their suits.

Somebody wake up Nader!

 

[robbedagain]

i'd say why not outsource the entire mgmt team and install a real team that is more than willing to turn this ship around if it aint too late for that! it is very clear to me that usair is an airline running around like a chicken with its head cut off

 

[El Gato]

Somebody wake up Nader!

[post="264401"][/post]​

Nader? Yikes! Get someone better than him!

 

[WestCoastGuy]

CCY is delighted of this information, Im sure.... <_<
This is from the online edition of the Manila News Bulletin Newspaper....





RP home to world’s largest call center industry by 2008, says firm


By JOSEPH G. LARIOSA


XMG Incorporated, a Manila-based research and advisory firm, said yesterday the Philippines will surpass India by 2008 as home to the world’s largest call center industry.


By that time, XMG estimates, the call center industry will generate US$3 billion a year in revenues.

Also known as tech support staff assistance, the call center became a cottage industry outside the United States after computer and online giants such as Dell and American Online tapped overseas staff to cut costs in the United States, called outsourcing.

English-speaking countries such as India (British English) and the Philippines (American English) became the favorite countries where call centers had set up shop.

According to a five-part series of the Daily Herald, a mainstream US broadsheet based in Arlington Heights, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois, United States, written by a staff member, Mike Comerford, "the Philippines has the infrastructure for the industry. Eastwood City skyscrapers in Metro Manila have some of the most advanced call banks in the world," quoting Julius Gorospe, a 2004 graduate of the Wharton MBA Program. Eastwood is located in Quezon City.

"The proliferation of call centers in Eastwood City has even sparked a minibuilding boom. On the 25th floor of the Elmakati Center in Manila is Advanced Contact Solutions, a onetime casualty of Manila’s version of the dotcom bust. In its latest incarnation, it sells trade magazine subscriptions via the telephone, Comerford wrote.

He said at 10 p.m., about 150 people, mostly 25 years or younger, sit in a room of enclosed cubicles outfitted with phones and computers. They will be working until 6 a.m., when many catch a couple hours of sleep before going to school or a second job.

"As their shift begins, it is 11 a.m. in Chicago," a prime time to catch the business trade magazine readers Advanced Contact seeks.