To cope with manpower shortages, Qantas has requested that executives and management-level staff take on ground handling responsibilities at significant airports for a three-month period.
Australia too has a staffing shortfall in airports, much like North America and Europe do. Sydney and Melbourne, the two biggest cities in the nation, are getting ready for the busy summer and school holiday season, which starts in October 2022.
The airline is looking for managers and executives to submit Expressions of Interest (EOI) to work at Sydney or Melbourne airports in positions including operating baggage trucks and sorting luggage.
“We continue to face operational challenges and so we’re calling on at least 100 managers and executives to opt into a short-term arrangement over the next three months,” Hughes said in the memo.
“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 managing the Qantas operation, over a three-month period from mid-August,” the memo stated.
The message also stated that driving a tug and loading and unloading airplanes (including sorting and scanning bags to be hauled to an aircraft, scanning and loading bags onto belt loaders, and discharging goods to arrival belts) are critical components of the position they are seeking (taking bags between the bag room and aircraft, moving bags between International and Domestic airports).
“It’s our singular company focus to support our teams to get our operation back to where it should be and provide our passengers the experience they expect from the airline,” Hughes said in the memo.
