LUCIO TAN-LED PHILIPPINE AIRLINES is hiring a unit of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) to take over the flag carrier?s call-center operations.

In its first concrete step to outsource parts of its non-core operations to third party service providers, PAL said it had tapped ePLDT Ventus, a business process outsourcing (BPO) unit of the country?s dominant phone firm, to handle all its contact center service requirements.

This is part of the company?s plans to save as much as P1.5 billion a year by streamlining operations in order to attract new investors that can bail PAL out of its current financial woes.

The spinning off of non-core services, which, aside from call centers, include catering and other airport services, is expected to affect close to 3,000 of PAL?s current 7,500-person workforce.

Pilots and flight attendants, which PAL considers its front-liners, will not be affected.

?PAL?s decision to fully outsource its contact center to a proven and reliable partner like ePLDT Ventus will greatly enhance its operational efficiency and productivity in the face of stiffer challenges in the market,? PAL president and chief operating officer Jaime Bautista said in a statement.

?ePLDT Ventus, with its recognized expertise, latest technology and highly competent workforce, is best positioned to address PAL?s pressing and future requirements for contact center services,? said ePLDT Ventus president Maulik Parekh.

The deal between the two firms calls for ePLDT Ventus to provide a dedicated team of call-center agents on a 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week basis to service the broad range of PAL?s requirements.

Functions that the BPO firm plans to provide for PAL include general inquiries, reservations and ticketing, tour bookings, Mabuhay Miles service and disruption handling.

About 300 PAL employees will be affected by the move, but the company said these workers would be given the first priority in filling the about 600 new positions that would open up at the PLDT unit, as a result of the new contract.

PAL Employees? Association (Palea), the labor union representing all of the airline?s workers in the non-core services, had opposed the planned retrenchment by filing a strike notice with the labor department. Palea officials earlier said the group would meet with the airline?s management to discuss the possibility of stopping the job cuts. Paolo G. Montecillo