Monday 5 September 2022 05:28 PM Qantas: Outsourcing will lead to a major crash pilot tells ABC Four Corners trends now
Systematic cost-cutting means it's only a matter of time before a Qantas plane goes down, insiders have warned.
A short haul pilot with the embattled airline, speaking anonymously on Monday's Four Corners, said the national carrier business model of threatening pilots with unemployment and continually outsourcing to cheaper inexperienced staff can only lead to 'disaster'.
'The stress affiliated with this is underestimated,' the pilot said.
'When you mix a safety critical role with the threat of losing your job then it really only ends one way.
'A mistake will be made, there will be an incident and there could be devastating consequences as a result.'
The Flying Kangaroo has struggled since its return to the sky after the Covid pandemic with cancelations, delays and lost baggage plaguing the airline.
Employees say poorly trained outsourced ground crew are the main reason for the ongoing issues.
Former and current Qantas staff said the airline's systematic hiring of inexperienced workers will lead to a major crash and is putting customers at risk
The Federal Court in September 2021 ruled Qantas illegally sacked 2000 workers when the Covid crisis took hold and replaced them with more cost-effective outsourced crew.
But when international borders reopened earlier this year, the under-trained staff were unable to meet the soaring demand of large-scale operations.
One groundsman who did not wish to be identified said about 50 per cent of all delayed flights have been caused by luggage problems - either planes taking off before its cargo has been loaded or with the previous flight's still onboard.
'Anybody who thinks the outsource of the in-house ground handling is not a problem is delusional,' they said.
'Bags aren't making it to aircrafts on time, bags are being loaded onto aircraft incorrectly, 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.
'If you go to Sydney airport now they put garbage bags up on the windows where all these bags are being held that were lost or haven't made flights.
'Do they not want the people to see what's going on?'
Workers said Qantas outsourced flight attendants, pilots and grounds staff which leads to massive pay differences
A anonymous current pilot with the Qantas (above) said the airline is continually threatening pilots to overwork themselves which will inevitably lead to an incident with 'devastating consequences'
The worker said the limited numbers and inexperience of the outsourced contractor ground crews mean worker turnover is high, further straining the system to its limits.
'We can't build enough experienced people doing the job more efficiently and safely and so we do jobs more slowly and more haphazardly because people just don't know, they're still learning on the job,' they said.
The ground worker revealed the airline has already had several major incidents where staff error almost caused serious injury.
'In one instance I'm aware of, the ground handlers loaded the aircraft incorrectly,' they said.
'So what should have gone in the front went in the back and what went in the back should have gone in the front.
'These sorts of things are all to do with weight. There's a certain way aircrafts have to be loaded down below and it was only realised it was done the wrong way just before the cargo hold was supposed to be closed.'
Qantas uses subsidiaries, outside companies who hire workers that are then contracted to businesses like Qantas, which means large pay and rights disparities among staff
Former flight attendant Matthew Allsop said he wore the Qantas uniform for more than 15 years despite never actually working for the company.
He explained Qantas hires its staff through subsidiaries, essentially meaning workers are hired by separate businesses who are contracted by Qantas to supply workers.
Mr Allsop said workers from four different companies can all be on the same flight, leading to massive disparities in pay and rights.
'By creating these wholly-owned subsidiaries and small companies, they manage to water down the pay and conditions each time to slowly erode the high value of pay and conditions that once existed in the legacy part of the airline,' Mr Allsop said.
'We had a New Zealand based subsidiary, a UK based subsidiary and two Australia subsidiaries.
'George Orwell summed it up perfectly in his quote that all animals are created equal but some animals are more equal than others. That was our working environment.'
Mr Allsop said flight attendants are expected to be the front line to dangerous situations on flights but Qantas's hiring system means not all staff are valued the same, despite facing the same work conditions.
Former flight attendant Matthew Allsop (above) said he would work among employees from four different companies all on board the same Qantas flight
Flight attendants operating the same flight could be paid anywhere from $23 to $40 an hour, depending on which subsidiary they are hired by
'I don't work for a tea and coffee company, I work in a safety environment and I work on a heavy piece of machinery,' he said.
'I am the airline's first responder. If there is a fire, I'm expected to run towards it. If there is a medical emergency, I'm expected to run towards it and render all help.
'So for that critical safety sensitive role basically people are now being paid the same as if they worked for a fast food outlet.'
Data obtained by the ABC found domestic hourly rates can vary from $40 for Qantas legacy staff to just $23 for new subsidiary staff.
Tony Lucas, a senior Qantas pilot and president of the Australian and International Pilots Association, said Qantas's subsidiary system has also driven pilots to the edge.
Qantas recently announced the introduction of the longest non-stop commercial flight in the world but Mr Lucas said pilots were essentially forced to take up the difficult route, along with other harsh working conditions.
Senior Qantas pilot and president of the Australian and International Pilots Association Tony Lucas (above) said Qantas will 'put a metaphorical gun to (pilots) head' by threatening them with unemployment if they refuse to overwork themselves
'They play one group of pilots off another group and essentially threaten to take the flying a group of pilots is currently doing and give it to another group of pilots,' he said.
'Ultimately they put a metaphorical gun to our head and said to us that if you don't agree to these terms and conditions, that they would give that flying to another entity.'
Former Qantas pilot Keith Marriott explained pilots are easily susceptible to threats of unemployment because their job skills, while impressive, are limited.
When speaking of 2011 Qantas worker strikes over outsourcing, which ended in the company ignoring union requests, Mr Marriott said: 'Not only did it cause massive anxiety to Qantas families but broke the trust between Qantas pilots and the company and I don't think it's ever been recovered.
'To pilots, job security is everything.
'There's no other job that is under so much scrutiny and you're trained to a very high
