THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 6, 1996 TAG: 9601060227
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
ValuJet Airlines Inc. will open a reservations center in a former Newport News-Williamsburg International Airport terminal. The center will employ about 200 people.
The Peninsula Airport Commission planned to approved the project Friday.
Commission member William Ferguson III said ValuJet considered about 10 cities before selecting Newport News.
ValuJet spokeswoman Katie deNourie said the company was looking for a new site to keep pace with its rapid growth.
The Newport News reservations center will be the 2-year-old company's third. ValuJet's existing centers - its original facility in Atlanta and an 11-month-old center in Savannah, Ga. - each employ 500 people and handle a combined average of 50,000 calls a day.
ValuJet does not use travel agents. As a result, anyone who wants to book a flight, including travel agents, must talk to a representative at one of the company's reservations centers.
Six months ago, Newport News gave the low-fare, short-haul carrier nearly $2 million to begin passenger service at the Peninsula airport.
City Manager Ed Maroney declined to specify any incentives Newport News might have offered this time or discuss how much the project is worth.
Such incentives would probably come through the city's Industrial Development Authority.
ValuJet wants to open the center by March and hire 200 people, city and company officials have said. The center could eventually employ as many as 450 workers.
The airport's old 60,000-square-foot terminal, built in 1947, has been largely empty since it was replaced with a $26 million facility three years ago. by CNB