Qantas 'pandemic' ground crew exit had been on the cards for a decade
Qantas developed a plan 10 years ago to outsource all airport ground handling work by 2020, raising questions about its claim that last month's move to sack all 2400 remaining ground workers was a consequence of the COVID-19 crisis. The airline said in August that outsourcing Qantas and Jetstar baggage handling, aircraft cleaning and ground crew work to third-party contractors at 11 major Australian airports would save it around $100m a year as "part of its COVID recovery plan". But an internal company document from 2010 shows that Qantas had long considered the move as a way to simplify the business and cut costs. The "private and confidential" document outlines a "2020 Vision" strategy for the airline which includes "BTW (below the wing) ground handling exited" by this year. The document outlines that the strategy would deliver a "quantum reduction in staff numbers" at airports and enable Qantas to be "more focused on process rather than people management". Qantas management canvassed the strategy internally in 2010. While it is unclear whether the company adopted the "2020 Vision" strategy in full, the document shows outsourcing all "below the wing" work has been part of the executive team's thinking since before the bruising 2011 industrial dispute. Transport Workers Unions national secretary Michael Kaine seized on the document as "utterly shocking" evidence that Qantas wasn't sacking more because of the pandemic but as part of a "pre-arranged plan".<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2020-09-08/oneworld/qantas-pandemic-ground-crew-exit-had-been-on-the-cards-for-a-decade
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/logo.png
Qantas 'pandemic' ground crew exit had been on the cards for a decade
Qantas developed a plan 10 years ago to outsource all airport ground handling work by 2020, raising questions about its claim that last month's move to sack all 2400 remaining ground workers was a consequence of the COVID-19 crisis. The airline said in August that outsourcing Qantas and Jetstar baggage handling, aircraft cleaning and ground crew work to third-party contractors at 11 major Australian airports would save it around $100m a year as "part of its COVID recovery plan". But an internal company document from 2010 shows that Qantas had long considered the move as a way to simplify the business and cut costs. The "private and confidential" document outlines a "2020 Vision" strategy for the airline which includes "BTW (below the wing) ground handling exited" by this year. The document outlines that the strategy would deliver a "quantum reduction in staff numbers" at airports and enable Qantas to be "more focused on process rather than people management". Qantas management canvassed the strategy internally in 2010. While it is unclear whether the company adopted the "2020 Vision" strategy in full, the document shows outsourcing all "below the wing" work has been part of the executive team's thinking since before the bruising 2011 industrial dispute. Transport Workers Unions national secretary Michael Kaine seized on the document as "utterly shocking" evidence that Qantas wasn't sacking more because of the pandemic but as part of a "pre-arranged plan".<br/>
