May 27--FedEx Corp. is preparing to roll out Monday the first phase of operations in its cargo-sorting hub at Piedmont Triad International Airport.

The company is transferring its ramp operation at PTI, along with 160 full- and part-time employees, into the hub. FedEx conducts about 66 weekly flights at the airport.

FedEx, however, said it is no closer to determining when it will begin overnight sorting operations.

The company said in December that it would be late September at the earliest before overnight operations start at the $228 million hub. The entire project is expected to cost about $500 million.

Jim McCluskey, a company spokesman, said that the economy will play a major role in how quickly FedEx ramps up operations.

In April, FedEx announced it had cut 1,000 jobs in reaction to third-quarter earnings dropping 75 percent. Half of the workers were employed in Memphis, where the corporation and its largest operating unit, FedEx Express, are based.

FedEx also said in April that it would permanently remove 14 jets from service as part of an overall plan to reduce capacity amid weak economic conditions.

"We remain strongly committed to the Triad communities and believe our plan to open the sorting hub in the fall is positive given economic times when companies are cutting back," McCluskey said.

"We're not immune from what's occurring in the economy, but we believe we're in a better situation than many businesses because goods still have to be moved."

When operations do begin at PTI, the company is likely to have at least 50 percent fewer full- and part-time employees than it has pledged since committing to the 425,000-square-foot hub in April 1998.

McCluskey said that FedEx plans to hire up to 200 employees for the initial phase of the sorting hub, for a work force of about 360.

The company had been saying for years that it would have 750 when it began sorting operations. The projections were for 225 full-time positions and 525 part-time jobs.

FedEx also pledged to hire up to 1,500 full- and part-time employees when the hub was fully operational. McCluskey said that the economy will play a major role in its hiring plans for 2009-10.

The opening of sorting operations at the hub is expected to give the Triad at least a psychological boost.

Initially, the hub was to open in June 2003.

But it took FedEx and the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority until 2005 to maneuver through lawsuits brought by some residential neighbors of the airport, mostly over the environmental effects of the hub, before the project began in earnest in mid-2006.

The company has received commitments for $142.3 million in state incentives over 20 years -- at that time the largest amount ever offered. The overall cost of the project includes the $130 million it cost to build a third runway, of which 90 percent was paid by the Federal Aviation Administration.

It is unclear whether having a smaller work force will affect the amount of state incentive money FedEx could receive. Many incentive agreements include clauses in which the recipients get a lower amount for creating fewer jobs.

Economists said that the delay could have significant ripple effects in the Triad economy and commercial real-estate markets.

Part of the draw of the hub is attracting companies, such as in the publishing, pharmaceutical, software and apparel sectors, which will want to be close to an overnight shipper.

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