Single photo sums up Qantas baggage nightmare

As Qantas’ employees speak out about the full scale of its staffing crisis, a new image has left egg all over the airline’s face again.

A photo has emerged of a single suitcase left behind on a Qantas-operated tarmac, in the latest scandal to hit the airline.

The photo was shared on Twitter by Australian singer Fanny Lumsden and captioned with a simple: “Lol Qantas.”

It’s not known whether this was on an international or domestic flight.

Lol Qantas pic.twitter.com/lk8bcsvC64

— Fanny Lumsden (@Fannylumsden) September 4, 2022

This comes as the Australian airline has come under fire for lost and missing baggage, with the flag carrier outsourcing their baggage handling staff.

In July, The Guardian reported that on average, one in 10 pieces of luggage were either getting lost or weren’t loaded onto domestic flights flying from Sydney airport. At the time, this figure was disputed by the carrier as “completely inaccurate”. At the time they claimed that the rate of mishandled baggage across the Qantas network over the past four weeks was “less than one per cent”.

Head office executives were also asked to work as baggage handlers in an attempt to tackle the staffing shortages. The call-out sought at least 100 volunteers to work for three or five days a week in either four or six hour shifts.

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In July, up to one in 10 pieces of luggage was being lost or weren’t loaded onto domestic flights leaving Sydney airport. Picture: Daily Telegraph/Gaye Gerard

Speaking to the ABC ahead of the Monday night’s Four Corners investigation, a ground staff member said that Qantas’ outsourcing of in-house ground handling was a major problem.

“Bags aren’t making aircraft on time. Bags are being loaded onto aircraft incorrectly,” they said.

“Flights are being cancelled because crew are running out of hours to operate these flights in the time it would take to fix the issues.”

The incorrect placement of baggage due to inexperienced handlers could also affect the plane’s safety due to an improper weight distribution.

The unidentified Qantas staffer described an incident in which the baggage was incorrectly loaded, however, the mistake was only caught just before the cargo hold was about to close.

In response, Qantas says that the fact that the error was spotted prior to the aircraft departing is proof that the “safety management system that is working”.

Although they said that data showed that there was a “lower rate of incidents” when ground handling was done in-house, a higher rate of proactive hazard reporting rate was evidence of a “strong reporting culture” among the outsourced ground handlers.

Inexperienced baggage handlers posed a potential safety concern as well, one Qantas staffer said. Picture: NewsWire/Monique Harmer

‘There’s a lot that can go wrong’

In addition to the baggage handling issues, a Qantas pilot said the airline’s staffing issues had the potential to pose safety concerns.

“We’re working longer hours,” the pilot said.

“We are red-lining, running at max capacity in a very dynamic, challenging environment. There’s a lot that can go wrong.”

Responding to the Four Corners story, Qantas released a statement said that the aviation industry is one of the “most closely regulated industries in Australia” and they are subjected to the “considerable oversight from numerous authorities”.

They also state that they have established afety management system to manage “all aspects of safety, including fatigue”.

“Fatigue risk is managed using data and medical advice and employees are encouraged to report fatigue,” they said.

The airline also state that Four Corners didn’t contact the Civil Aviation Safety Authority regarding any claims made in the program, which have “reiterated that it has confidence that Qantas is operating safely”.

While Qantas was consistently named the world’s safest airline between 2014 to 2021, this year saw the carrier drop down to seventh place.

Instead, the top spot was taken by Air New Zealand. The drop in ratings was a result of the airline’s fleet age and a “slight increase in incidents”, the report said.

The Qantas pilot said overworked pilots could lead to bigger issues. Picture: Saeed Khan/AFP

Equipment concerns and morale ‘in the gutter’

Another ABC investigation also revealed that company morale was “absolutely in the gutter”, with several departments in the airline affected. The Federal Secretary of the Australian Licenced Aircraft Engineers Association Steve Purvinas told the ABC that some departments had seen absenteeism increase to up to 83 per cent of workers per shift.

“I can use a department in Sydney [as an example], where they require 60 people on every shift,” he said.

“It is not unusual for 50 out of the 60 people to call in sick on any given day.”

An engineer, who had been with the airline for 30 years, also called Qantas’ jet base in Mascot an “absolute wreck”.

Steve Purvinas said it wasn’t unusual for 50 out of 60 members of staff to call in sick every shift. Picture: NCA NewsWire

Identified by the pseudonym Mark, he said neglect, dated technology and infrastructure and equipment cuts meant engineers were not poised to do their jobs.

“It feels like working with one hand tied behind your back most of the time,” said Mark.

He said basic equipment like stands have now become hard to find, which means engineers need to “search and scrounge trying to find a proper work stand that’s suitable for the job”.

A lack of specific specialised tools have also led to unnecessary delays.

“They just don’t have adequate tooling to do all the jobs that we need to do on a day-to-day basis,” he said.

“We are often trying to find tooling because it’s either been lent to another port, or out for calibration.”

Qantas reports $1.89b loss

After a difficult few years for the aviation industry, this year Qantas announced a “staggering” loss of more than $1 billion for the third year in a row.

Sharing the results, CEO Alan Joyce posted an underlying loss of $1.89 billion for the 2022 financial year. He credited the setback with a labour shortfall impacted by Covid-19 and the airline’s difficulties in rebounding from travel post-pandemic.

In an attempt to woo back dissatisfied customers, Mr Joyce proposed a $400 million customer service plan, which included new routes from Auckland to New York, renovations to lounges in Adelaide and New Zealand and a $50 voucher for frequent flyers.

However, some customers were unimpressed with the rollout.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said the airline had posted a $1.89 billion loss for the 2022 financial year. Picture: Martin Ollman/Getty Images

Customers on a bronze tier and over were eligible to receive a $50 promo code to use on a return flight booking to be made by November 30, 2022 for travel by June 30, 2023.

Frequent flyers criticised the 10 month waiting period and dubbed the voucher as an “epic corporate fail” and a “ploy” to increase their bookings.

In a post to Reddit, a QFF member posted a screenshot of the voucher’s ‘how it works’ page with the caption “Qantas’ insincere $50 voucher – not a happy camper”.

Several other users agreed in the comments.

“Not an apology, just marketing – you need to book an eligible return flight to use it,” wrote one user.

“Just had a $50 voucher offer from Alan Joyce to be claimed before 30th September. No plans to travel between now and then. Keep your voucher, Alan … give it to a baggage handler,” wrote another.