Delta Cancels Plans For Philippines Call CenterDelta Cancels Plans For Philippines Call Center

Delta Airlines Inc. says it has canceled plans to open a call center in the Philippines because of security concerns. "Our security people decided it would not be a good move, given the current political environment," Lee Macenczak, senior VP of sales and distribution at Delta, told information on Friday.

Macenczak wouldn't comment on the nature of the concerns, but Muslim separatist and terrorist groups, including some believed to have ties with foreign terror groups such as Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, are known to be active in the country.

The call center was to have been operated by outsourcing vendor Sykes Enterprises Inc.

Delta originally planned to move some call-center operations, such as passenger reservations and the handling of baggage inquiries, to the Sykes facility and a portion to a facility in India operated by Wipro Ltd. as part of a cost-cutting strategy. Delta has moved ahead with the Indian operation.