As part of a plan to combat labour shortages, senior executives at Qantas are being asked to trade their high-profile positions to work as ground handlers.
Colin Hughes, the airline's chief operating officer, told the staff in an internal memo that Qantas is seeking expressions of interest for a contingency program over a three-month period.
Hughes wrote that people who respond to the EOI will be trained and rostered into the ramp environment at Sydney and Melbourne airports. These people will support our ground handling partners, who are running the Qantas operation over a three month period from mid-August. At least 100 managers will be recruited to sort and scan bags and transport luggage. Hughes said there is no expectation that you will opt into this role on top of your full-time position. The federal court has ruled that 1,600 baggage handlers were sacked during the lockdown, with the service outsourced to contractors. Qantas has vowed to appeal the decision.
A spokesman for the airline has apologised after a litany of complaints from frustrated passengers who have endured delayed and cancelled flights, long queues at airports and lost baggage.
Qantas is hoping to address the problems by fewer flights in the next month and hiring more staff.
Andrew David, the airline s domestic and international chief executive, acknowledged that Qantas had been plagued by problems as it recovered from the Covid 19 lockdown period.
A spokeswoman said the airline was committed to improving its services and that we have been clear that our operational performance has not been meeting our customers expectations or the standards that we expect of ourselves and that we have been pulling out all stops to improve our performance.
Around 200 head office staff have helped at airports during peak travel periods, as we have done in the past during busy periods.
While we manage the impact of a record flu season and ongoing COVID cases, we are continuing that contingency planning across our airport operations for the next three months.