An ABC report says that a union claims that travellers will face long delays at Sydney’s international airport over Christmas because of Qantas staff shortages.
Qantas says it has an adequate number of check-in attendants and that a roster is in place to deal with high demand periods.
But the secretary for the Australian Services Union, Sally McManus, disagrees, saying Qantas has failed to hire new staff for months.
“Qantas has already conceded that there needs to be at least 130 extra staff at Sydney airport,” she said.
“It’s really because people have left the organisation over a period of time and not been replaced.
“This is really a ticking time bomb that has been sitting there until Christmas comes.”
Ms McManus says that a recent change to the roster system is contributing to the problem.
“[The situation] has been exacerbated by Qantas introducing a new rostering system and that’s meant that the problems that already exist in terms of not enough people are now twice as bad,” she said.
A report by The Mole from the ABC
