Delta Looks Offshore To Save MoneyDelta Looks Offshore To Save Money

Delta Air Lines Inc. has been losing money since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and doesn't anticipate returning to profitability anytime soon. But it's getting some relief by outsourcing parts of its call-center operations offshore.

The strategy is expected to save $26 million this year, Gloria Richard, Delta's general manager of call-center partner relations, told attendees at a conference hosted by India-based IT services firm Wipro Technologies earlier this month. Now a portion of some 91 million calls per year are answered by Wipro employees in India and Sykes Inc. employees in the Philippines. The offshore call centers started in January, and Delta will sign with a third undisclosed vendor in the coming weeks. Offshore outsourcing is one of many cost-reduction measures Delta has taken. Others include reducing head count by 13,000 and cutting the number of flights by 14%.

Because call-center employees are often the first contact with customers, Delta includes "accent neutralization" as part of its training to help reduce communication problems. But the company sees such efforts as worthwhile: The average salary with benefits and bonuses for a call-center employee in the United States is $46,000, compared with $6,000 in India and $7,300 in the Philippines.