To cope with the labor shortage that has paralyzed airlines since the pandemic, the Australian Qantas seems to have found a solution.
It offers its executives to leave the offices to work on the tarmac as baggage handlers.
According to an internal memo from Qantas chief operating officer Colin Hughes, relayed by
The Australian
, senior executives would work as handlers at Sydney and Melbourne airports three to five days a week, based on the volunteering.
One hundred positions would be sought.
"
You will receive a list of tasks, an operations program and you will be supervised by our ground support partners
", specifies Colin Hughes in the internal memo, specifying that the participating personnel will not have to combine this role with their usual assignments.
It is unclear how the company intends to do without a hundred of its senior executives, or how many of them answered the call.
Contacted, the Australian company did not respond to requests from
Le Figaro
.
Read alsoAustralia: Qantas records a huge loss due to the Covid
2000 layoffs in 2021
"
Our operational performance does not meet the expectations of our customers or the standards we expect of ourselves
," a Qantas spokesperson told Australian Aviation.
The company is indeed paralyzed by recruitment difficulties after having dismissed, in 2021, nearly 2,000 ground staff due to the Covid crisis.
These dismissals were found to be in partial breach of Australian law by the country's federal court, but Qantas has appealed.
The airline is also facing ground staff strikes over pay and working conditions.
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Qantas has come under fire in recent weeks after posting the worst performance in its history in June 2022. Almost half of its flights were delayed or canceled and many bags lost or damaged.
"
Restarting an airline after a two-year shutdown is complex and the airline industry job market, like many others, is very tight
," said Andrew David, domestic and international chief executive of the airline.
company in July 2022.
Add to that the fact that Covid cases are on the rise again, in parallel with the flu season
(it's winter in Australia, editor's note).
»
Flight delays and cancellations have affected airlines around the world in recent months, with Qantas only ranking fourth among airlines that canceled the most flights between April 26 and July 26, 2022. European airports have also experienced chaotic situations at the start of the summer, such as Heathrow in London, Schiphol in Amsterdam or Kastrup in Copenhagen.
More than 25,000 scheduled flights had to be withdrawn from the August flight schedule, including nearly 60% in Europe.
