American Airlines closing 500-employee Windsor Reservation Center

Jun 30, 2009 (The Hartford Courant - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- AMR | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- American Airlines will close its reservation center in Windsor by September, affecting as many as 500 employees.

The airline announced the move to employees Monday, but said it was too soon to know how many workers might lose their jobs. An undetermined number of workers will be given the chance to work from home or transfer to one of the three remaining U.S. reservation centers -- in Dallas, Tucson, Ariz. and Raleigh, N.C, the airline said.

Like other airlines, American has been forced to cut costs, spokesman Billy Sanez said. The number of flights has been curtailed by nearly eight percent over the last year, and more customers are booking flights directly online.

Employees at the center on Day Hill Road, which moved from downtown Hartford with about 700 people in 2002, take ticket reservations and handle customer questions. Sanez said the local center has the smallest number of employees of its four centers, but he declined to say whether it is more expensive to operate.

American, based in Fort Worth, Texas, also closed its reservation center in Cincinnati, in 2008.

Local economic development officials, who were notified early Monday about the decision, said they were told that Windsor's location -- in the same time zone as Raleigh -- was a key factor in the decision.

"Raleigh was the bigger center, so they went with Raleigh," said Oz Griebel, president and CEO of the MetroHartford Alliance.

Griebel stressed that the closing is no reflection of the quality of the region's workforce. Sanez praised the reservation center employees, saying the decision to close Windsor was difficult.

American Airlines moved its reservation center after occupying space in downtown Hartford for 25 years. The one-story, red-brick building of 45,000 square feet was built to the airline's specifications, and it satisfied employee desires to have free, on-site parking.

The company plans to honor its lease with the property owner in Windsor, which has two years remaining, and is actively looking for a company to sublet the offices, Griebel said. Ideally, he said, a company looking to open a call center hire some of the airline employees in addition to subletting space.

"It could be a plug-and-play situation," said Griebel, whose office has worked with some success to attract call centers to central Connecticut.

Trophies, plaques, certificates and photographs adorn the lobby of the Day Hill Road building for the Windsor division, commemorating community service and the office softball team. Several employees leaving the office declined to comment, saying they had been ordered not to speak to reporters. One woman arriving to work at the center just before 6 p.m. had heard the news, and said she would consider retirement.

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