Sabre expects to hire 1,000 in Tulsa in the next decade

TULSA, Okla. (AP)-Expansion plans for Sabre Holdings Corp.'s Tulsa operation won't change with the travel reservations company's reduction of 1,200 jobs companywide, Sabre officials say.<br><br>"We

Wednesday, August 30th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP)-Expansion plans for Sabre Holdings Corp.'s Tulsa operation won't change with the travel reservations company's reduction of 1,200 jobs companywide, Sabre officials say.

"We have 2,000 people in Tulsa now, and 1,000 people will be added over the next 10 years," said Sabre spokeswoman Theda Page Whitehead. "There will be no different role for Tulsa."

Sabre has said it will spend $500 million on its Tulsa operations, which include a computer center at Tulsa International Airport and a global data center. New construction is needed, officials say, to accommodate new business and additional employees.

Sabre is the world's largest travel reservations company with about 10,500 employees worldwide. Sabre Chief Executive Officer William J. Hannigan said Monday that the company was refocusing its business plan.

It is cutting 1,200 jobs as part of a cost-saving move while also paying $757 million for an Internet travel business that focuses on corporate customers. Officials said the company would save about $100 million a year by cutting more than 11 percent of the work force through layoffs and attrition over the next several months and reinvesting the labor savings in Menlo Park, Calif.-based GetThere.

In Tulsa, construction has begun on two buildings in the Cherokee Industrial Park at a cost of $80 million. The company plans to spend $400 million on computers and equipment. Construction should be completed in the spring.

Sabre will spent about $20 million to renovate the global data center, which houses employees in systems engineering, computer support and applications. The secure computer center houses the nerve center of the travel reservations network.

Sabre is based in Fort Worth, Texas, but a new corporate headquarters is being built in Southlake, which is north of Dallas.