An outsourced baggage handler for Qantas revealed that 1 in 10 bags aren’t included in flights at Sydney’s domestic terminal
- Replies 0
After Qantas found itself tied to several serious controversies, one outsourced baggage handler disclosed that as many as 1 in 10 pieces of luggage either get lost or fail to make it on the airline’s domestic flights daily at Sydney airport.
While global and local carriers have long relied on third-party contractors to fulfil ground handling services, Qantas along with its budget carrier Jetstar’s dominance in Australia have raised concerns after the recent surge in lost luggage and their overall declining service quality in May – both of which have played a role in the chaotic scenes at Australian airports this year.
Guardian Australia stated that Swissport, which is one of the companies that Qantas has outsourced to supply baggage handling services, has been forced to contract two separate labour-hire firms in a desperate attempt to find employees for the shifts that Qantas has contracted it to fill.
The Swissport baggage handler (who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retribution) slammed the airline, detailing that the employees in charge of loading and transporting bags to and from Qantas and Jetstar flights are overworked, poorly paid, and unable to handle the heavy workload after domestic flights have skyrocketed in recent months.
Qantas baggage handlers. Source: KarryOn
The worker said that of the roughly 100 barrows (or trolleys) seen by a typical baggage handler daily, “there are about 10 barrows each day that just don’t make it on.”
Each barrow carries around 30 to 40 pieces of luggage.
They added that amid the school holiday peaks, office managers from Qantas and Swissport helped move luggage alongside handlers. However, they said: “there’s just still not enough of us there to get to all of the bags.”
Qantas refused to reveal the amount of bags mishandled (including the ones that were lost or did not make it on the correct flight) at the Sydney domestic terminal, but a spokesperson argued that the claims made were “completely inaccurate”.
“Claims that one in 10 bags have been mishandled are wrong,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “The rate of mishandled baggage across the Qantas network over the past four weeks is less than one per cent. Our teams are working hard to get this figure down further.”
The major airline company is experiencing widespread staff shortages across ground handling and aviation business due to the massive pre-pandemic travel demand. The company’s attrition rate soared, with new employees left to brace chaotic scenes and poor conditions.
The Swissport baggage handler said that Qantas’ staff shortages were becoming a bigger issue as the airport became more hectic. They went on to reveal that many of those who joined Swissport had left their jobs to work for different industries. Others switched to working for different airlines and aviation businesses at Sydney airport that paid more than Swissport does.
The situation has gotten so out of control that Swissport is now offering a $50 a day bonus to baggage handlers at Sydney airport for merely showing up to their shifts for the rest of the year.
Qantas has been struggling with a shortage of baggage handlers since the company decided to outsource about 1,700 jobs in 2020. Later on, the decision was deemed illegal and in part motivated by an anti-union sentiment. Now, the airline is attempting to challenge that finding in the High Court.
Sydney airport. Source: Bloomberg.com
Swissport has contracted the labour-hire firms Star Aviation and Workfast to help fill the shortages in its teams working for Qantas and Jetstar. The training and hiring process varies depending on the airline, including the type of aircraft which dictates how luggage is loaded.
The Swissport worker shared that approximately 25 per cent of their colleagues each day were from labour-hire firms, many of which do not have specific training. As a result, the anonymous worker said that some were cutting corners or doing less thorough work.
“A lot of us get frustrated with them because they don’t do basic stuff properly. Sometimes they just move but don’t scan bags, which is a necessity, because it can mean we don’t know weight distribution in a plane or if a bag has arrived,”
“They’ve also been dropping transfer bags on arrival carousels, which is the reason why bags aren’t making it onto flights with passengers,” they continued.
They shared that although staff were not complaining about the temporary $50 per day bonus for showing up to work, they were still unhappy with the conditions. “Swissport is offering anything except permanent wage increases.”
Additionally, in jobs that Swissport is advertising in cities such as Brisbane, the company specified that new employees spend their first month at Sydney airport, billed as a “great opportunity to experience Sydney.”
They also promised to pay for their hotel accommodation.
At a recent jobs fair at Sydney airport, Swissport was hiring part-time contracts but offering workers full-time hours under these contracts at a rate of $23.41 per hour.
Qantas and Jetstar. Source: TTR Weekly
The worker said recent coverage of Qantas’s huge expenditure on new aircraft for direct flights to Europe left tired workers enraged, prompting Swissport employees to organise a union.
“I can’t tell you how frustrating it is seeing Alan Joyce on TVs where we work showing off these shiny new flights.”
The worker also recalled when a colleague was injured. The supervisor and manager at the time were busy helping out with other tasks and there were no on-site health and safety representatives to run to – there was no one to report the injury to either.
“I would tell everyone, don’t check in bags when you fly with Qantas right now, or even better if you can avoid it, don’t fly Qantas at all,” the worker urged.
Staff shortages are an increasing problem for ground handler providers as well as the airlines that rely on them. An industry source disclosed that one company started 20 new employees at 9 am on a Monday at an Australian airport. However, at 4 pm that same day, eight of them decided to quit. By Friday, only seven out of the 20 employees remained.
“The young people who take up these roles are getting yelled at, getting paid poorly, and now they’re saying ‘you know what, bugger this, I’m going to work in a cafe because I get paid as much or more than I do here and don’t have the stress’... And those who got sacked during the pandemic are saying they don’t want to go back to the industry that shut on them overnight. So we’ve got this huge void of experience,” the source stated.
The Transport Workers Union (TWU) has previously shared their disapproval of Qantas’s outsourcing decision, successfully taking the issue to the Federal Court. The TWU’s national secretary, Michael Kaine, said Swissport had “no choice but to keep wages low because Qantas’ squeeze on contracts is neither sustainable nor safe.”
Michael Kaine from the Transport Workers Union. Source: The Guardian
“It is no surprise that Swissport can’t recruit or retain staff. Swissport would rather pay workers an extra $50 a day to show up for work, bring in interstate workers and outsource to companies like Star Aviation than pay proper wages.” they continued.
A spokesperson for Qantas said: “Resourcing continues to be a challenge for the entire aviation industry”, adding that its ground handling suppliers have “improved significantly since the holiday peak in April.”
“While there’s still a lot more to be done to improve our operational performance, the rate of mishandled baggage has improved in recent months.”
A Swissport spokesperson said the company had worked with Qantas to varying degrees for decades because “the scale of our operations means that we can deliver a cost-effective service that is safe and reliable.”
“The rapid rebound in travel demand has put pressure on resourcing across the entire aviation sector, both here in Australia and around the world.”
Have you ever had any bad experiences flying with Qantas? Share your stories with us in the comments!
Watch the CEO of Qantas respond to the company’s challenges below:
Source: Bloomberg Markets and Finance
While global and local carriers have long relied on third-party contractors to fulfil ground handling services, Qantas along with its budget carrier Jetstar’s dominance in Australia have raised concerns after the recent surge in lost luggage and their overall declining service quality in May – both of which have played a role in the chaotic scenes at Australian airports this year.
Guardian Australia stated that Swissport, which is one of the companies that Qantas has outsourced to supply baggage handling services, has been forced to contract two separate labour-hire firms in a desperate attempt to find employees for the shifts that Qantas has contracted it to fill.
The Swissport baggage handler (who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retribution) slammed the airline, detailing that the employees in charge of loading and transporting bags to and from Qantas and Jetstar flights are overworked, poorly paid, and unable to handle the heavy workload after domestic flights have skyrocketed in recent months.
Qantas baggage handlers. Source: KarryOn
The worker said that of the roughly 100 barrows (or trolleys) seen by a typical baggage handler daily, “there are about 10 barrows each day that just don’t make it on.”
Each barrow carries around 30 to 40 pieces of luggage.
They added that amid the school holiday peaks, office managers from Qantas and Swissport helped move luggage alongside handlers. However, they said: “there’s just still not enough of us there to get to all of the bags.”
Qantas refused to reveal the amount of bags mishandled (including the ones that were lost or did not make it on the correct flight) at the Sydney domestic terminal, but a spokesperson argued that the claims made were “completely inaccurate”.
“Claims that one in 10 bags have been mishandled are wrong,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “The rate of mishandled baggage across the Qantas network over the past four weeks is less than one per cent. Our teams are working hard to get this figure down further.”
The major airline company is experiencing widespread staff shortages across ground handling and aviation business due to the massive pre-pandemic travel demand. The company’s attrition rate soared, with new employees left to brace chaotic scenes and poor conditions.
The Swissport baggage handler said that Qantas’ staff shortages were becoming a bigger issue as the airport became more hectic. They went on to reveal that many of those who joined Swissport had left their jobs to work for different industries. Others switched to working for different airlines and aviation businesses at Sydney airport that paid more than Swissport does.
The situation has gotten so out of control that Swissport is now offering a $50 a day bonus to baggage handlers at Sydney airport for merely showing up to their shifts for the rest of the year.
Qantas has been struggling with a shortage of baggage handlers since the company decided to outsource about 1,700 jobs in 2020. Later on, the decision was deemed illegal and in part motivated by an anti-union sentiment. Now, the airline is attempting to challenge that finding in the High Court.
Sydney airport. Source: Bloomberg.com
Swissport has contracted the labour-hire firms Star Aviation and Workfast to help fill the shortages in its teams working for Qantas and Jetstar. The training and hiring process varies depending on the airline, including the type of aircraft which dictates how luggage is loaded.
The Swissport worker shared that approximately 25 per cent of their colleagues each day were from labour-hire firms, many of which do not have specific training. As a result, the anonymous worker said that some were cutting corners or doing less thorough work.
“A lot of us get frustrated with them because they don’t do basic stuff properly. Sometimes they just move but don’t scan bags, which is a necessity, because it can mean we don’t know weight distribution in a plane or if a bag has arrived,”
“They’ve also been dropping transfer bags on arrival carousels, which is the reason why bags aren’t making it onto flights with passengers,” they continued.
They shared that although staff were not complaining about the temporary $50 per day bonus for showing up to work, they were still unhappy with the conditions. “Swissport is offering anything except permanent wage increases.”
Additionally, in jobs that Swissport is advertising in cities such as Brisbane, the company specified that new employees spend their first month at Sydney airport, billed as a “great opportunity to experience Sydney.”
They also promised to pay for their hotel accommodation.
At a recent jobs fair at Sydney airport, Swissport was hiring part-time contracts but offering workers full-time hours under these contracts at a rate of $23.41 per hour.
Qantas and Jetstar. Source: TTR Weekly
The worker said recent coverage of Qantas’s huge expenditure on new aircraft for direct flights to Europe left tired workers enraged, prompting Swissport employees to organise a union.
“I can’t tell you how frustrating it is seeing Alan Joyce on TVs where we work showing off these shiny new flights.”
The worker also recalled when a colleague was injured. The supervisor and manager at the time were busy helping out with other tasks and there were no on-site health and safety representatives to run to – there was no one to report the injury to either.
“I would tell everyone, don’t check in bags when you fly with Qantas right now, or even better if you can avoid it, don’t fly Qantas at all,” the worker urged.
Staff shortages are an increasing problem for ground handler providers as well as the airlines that rely on them. An industry source disclosed that one company started 20 new employees at 9 am on a Monday at an Australian airport. However, at 4 pm that same day, eight of them decided to quit. By Friday, only seven out of the 20 employees remained.
“The young people who take up these roles are getting yelled at, getting paid poorly, and now they’re saying ‘you know what, bugger this, I’m going to work in a cafe because I get paid as much or more than I do here and don’t have the stress’... And those who got sacked during the pandemic are saying they don’t want to go back to the industry that shut on them overnight. So we’ve got this huge void of experience,” the source stated.
The Transport Workers Union (TWU) has previously shared their disapproval of Qantas’s outsourcing decision, successfully taking the issue to the Federal Court. The TWU’s national secretary, Michael Kaine, said Swissport had “no choice but to keep wages low because Qantas’ squeeze on contracts is neither sustainable nor safe.”
Michael Kaine from the Transport Workers Union. Source: The Guardian
“It is no surprise that Swissport can’t recruit or retain staff. Swissport would rather pay workers an extra $50 a day to show up for work, bring in interstate workers and outsource to companies like Star Aviation than pay proper wages.” they continued.
A spokesperson for Qantas said: “Resourcing continues to be a challenge for the entire aviation industry”, adding that its ground handling suppliers have “improved significantly since the holiday peak in April.”
“While there’s still a lot more to be done to improve our operational performance, the rate of mishandled baggage has improved in recent months.”
A Swissport spokesperson said the company had worked with Qantas to varying degrees for decades because “the scale of our operations means that we can deliver a cost-effective service that is safe and reliable.”
“The rapid rebound in travel demand has put pressure on resourcing across the entire aviation sector, both here in Australia and around the world.”
Have you ever had any bad experiences flying with Qantas? Share your stories with us in the comments!
Watch the CEO of Qantas respond to the company’s challenges below:
Source: Bloomberg Markets and Finance
