In case you needed a little good news today (and who doesn't?), here's a story of some jobs coming back to U.S. shores rather than heading offshore for parts unknown.

U.S. Airways is saying today that it is bringing call center jobs previously handled offshore back to its call centers in Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Phoenix, Arizona and Reno, Nevada. The airline's new “onshore initiative” is a component of agreements with the Airline Customer Service Employee Association – CWA (News - Alert) and IBT, which represents more than 6,000 reservations and airport customer service employees employed by US Airways. 

The newly relocated contact center agent positions will help the company meet contractual requirements to handle all general reservations sales calls originating in the United States in American call centers by today (November 1, 2011), according to a press release.

“Today's news is a testament to the positive relationship we have with the Airline Customer Service Employee Association,” said U.S. Airways Chairman and CEO, Doug Parker. “The addition of 400 jobs is extremely good news for these three communities, for the CWA/IBT, and for our customers who will continue to receive the outstanding service they have come to associate with US Airways.”

“The CWA/IBT Association Union is excited to work with US Airways to bring jobs back into the Reservations work group,” said Velvet Hawthorne, IBT/CWA Association Chairperson and CWA Staff Representative. “Nothing speaks louder than solidarity, when we all work together for a successful airline. We welcome our new Brothers and Sisters, helping us to provide excellent customer service to our passengers.”

U.S. Airways, which operates three reservations call centers in the U.S., also has a call center in Liverpool, England, which handles calls from U.S. Airways customers calling from international locations. The changes in U.S. call center personnel will result in a total of 1,900 call center agents employed by the airline in total by the end of 2011. U.S. Airways call centers handle approximately 18 million calls each year.

To fill the call center jobs, U.S. Airways plans to host several events that will be open to members of the media. The company will be highlighting 150 new jobs at its reservations contact center in Phoenix, Arizona; and 200 new contact center jobs in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.