Qantas has announced a major change impacting passengers catching a domestic flight before jetting off overseas.
The national carrier has been looking at ways to deny issues around staff shortages which has seen the rate of mishandled bags almost doubled to nine in 1000, up from five in 1000 pre-COVID, The Australian reported.
Passengers connecting from Qantas domestic to international flights in Sydney and Melbourne will have their minimum transfer times extended from 60 minutes to 90 minutes from August 21 in a bid to avoid baggage issues.
The additional “buffer” is considered sufficient for the bags to be successfully transferred without being mishandled amid the current staffing shortage and sickness rates which are 50 per cent higher than normal.
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Customers with an existing booking where the transition between a domestic flight to an international service is less than 90 minutes will be transferred to an earlier domestic flight without charge.
Passengers who will have their flight changed under the new interval will be notified by the airline which said the “vast majority” of travelers would get a flight on the same day.
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said the measure was to help improve operational performance which had dipped due to the recent staff shortages.
“While there are lots of good reasons why, the simple fact is our operational performance hasn’t been up to the standard our customers are used to, or that we expect of ourselves,” Mr Joyce said.
“We are taking additional steps to get back to our best, which have been shaped by feedback from our frontline teams who are doing a phenomenal job under tough circumstances.
“Bringing our operations back to pre-COVID standard and maintaining our focus on safety is our absolute priority.”
The decision comes just days after it was reported Qantas asked senior executives and other office workers to fill in as baggage handlers amid the staff shortages.
The Australian reported on Monday that the national carrier had called on at least 100 managers and executives to opt into a short-term arrangement over the next three months.
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