Australian Airline Requests Senior Executives to Be Baggage Handlers in a Labor Crunch

Qantas is Australia’s flag carrier and has requested that its top executives be assigned to the job as they struggle to find employees.

” The high level of winter flu, a Covid spike in the community, combined with the continuing tight labor market make it difficult to resource our industry,” said Colin Hughes (Qantas chief operating officers), according to BBC.

Executives and managers will be expected to handle baggage for between four and six hours per day for three months, on average, for five days each week. Applicants must have the ability to move suitcases weighing up to 32 kilos (70. 54 pounds).

They must not only load and unload bags but also drive luggage vehicles around airports. The company is looking for a minimum of 100 volunteers to do such work at the Melbourne and Sydney airports.

Qantas was among the airlines that were hard hit by the pandemic, as Australia had maintained one of the most stringent COVID-19 travel restrictions in the world. The country started lifting these restrictions only in November 2021. The company even came close to going bankrupt during the initial period of the pandemic.

During the lockdown period, Qantas terminated at least 1,600 baggage handlers and outsourced the service to contractors. The move was ruled illegal by a federal court. Qantas plans to appeal this decision.

The airline has faced numerous complaints from customers in the recent past, such as lost luggage, lengthy queues and cancellations.

In a statement to Fortune, a Qantas spokesperson said that “operational performance has not been meeting our customers’ expectations or the standards that we expect of ourselves.” The company is “pulling out all stops to improve our performance.”

Since April, around 200 management staff and executives have volunteered to operate on the ground, he added.

The Epoch Times reached out to airlines.

Qantas Labor Issues

In a July 17 op-ed published at the Qantas newsroom, Domestic and International CEO Andrew David highlighted several issues that have led to the airline being in a tough spot at present.

“Returning to an airline after two years of grounding can be difficult. As with other industries, the aviation labor market is extremely tight. David also wrote that COVIDs are on the rise at the same moment as the flu season.

He dismissed the argument that outsourcing ground handling was a major contributor to the difficulties experienced during the operation restart.

The company is recruiting more than 1,000 workers, rostering more people on standby, and has doubled the number of people working at call centers, David added.