Leaked internal documents from one of the companies used by Qantas to outsource baggage handling work have exposed shocking security breaches at Australian airports over the past six months.
Incidents at Swissport have included guns being left on arrivals carousels, dangerous goods being transported on undocumented aircraft, damaged aircraft and staff working while injured.
As the beleaguered local aviation industry struggles to return to pre-pandemic capacity, Swissport has acknowledged to staff on more than one occasion that it does not have enough workers to sustainably meet the current demand for airlines
Swissport provides ground handling services for multiple international and Australian airlines, including Qantas.
A memo from Swissport to staff about Qantas, sent at the end of April, said there had been “an increase in incidents where firearms have been improperly unloaded at the arrivals carousel, rather than delivered- to baggage services.”
“These are serious security breaches as these items are left unattended on the arrivals carousel, which is open to the general public, effectively allowing anyone to pick up the item and leave,” the memo said.
A Swissport worker providing services for Qantas domestic flights, who asked not to be identified because of the company’s strict media policy, said the workplace was struggling with a very high turnover rate and a lack of experienced staff.
“The reason we’re understaffed is that it’s very hard work, but also people don’t feel valued; the pay is very low and there is generally a very poor safety culture,” they said.
“They send us a note when incidents occur; all they really say is don’t do this again. “There is very little accountability, very little enforcement of safety rules.”
The worker, who is paid about $23 an hour, said they and their colleagues were being asked to meet unrealistic deadlines by managers who were “under a lot of pressure” to meet their own Qantas deadlines .
“A good example is what is called ramp equipment; so when we go out and service the standard Boeing 737 aircraft that Qantas uses, you would normally have a team of four to do all the tasks associated with that,” they said.
“But often there are teams of just three people … and in some cases there are even two people or one person assigned to an entire aircraft.”
In one Swissport safety incident, a worker’s finger was crushed because he was not wearing personal protective equipment.
In another, a worker injured his back while trying to tow a container used to load luggage weighing more than 500 kg.
The Transport Workers Union has written to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, asking them to investigate safety incidents at Swissport and labor “supply chains” used by Qantas.
“The community should be rightly alarmed by the revelations,” TWU national secretary Michael Kaine said.
TWU representative and sacked Qantas baggage handler Don Dixon said he was particularly concerned by revelations that dangerous goods were being brought onto planes without being properly documented.
“It is critical that dangerous goods are placed in the right place on an aircraft that has been manifest to the captain… The training we did was intense,” he told reporters at the airport on Tuesday Sydney.
“Dangerous goods can have catastrophic effects on the aircraft they fly and can ultimately bring down an aircraft.”
Dixon said he doesn’t “blame the workers at these outsourced companies.”
“It’s not his fault. They have had minimal training. They’ve had virtually no one with experience on their side,” he said.
Qantas has suffered a shortage of baggage handlers since its decision in 2020 to outsource around 1,700 jobs to third-party companies, including Swissport.
This decision was held to be illegal and partly motivated by the fact that many of the national carrier’s own baggage handlers were union members with stronger bargaining power.
Qantas is seeking to challenge this finding in the High Court.
Ground handlers used by Qantas are understood to have increased their workforce by 25 per cent since Easter, while the rate of misplaced bags has fallen from 12 per 1000 in April to 6 per 1000 in august
A Qantas spokesman said the data showed specialist ground handlers had a lower incident rate compared to when the work was done at home.
“Just because outsourcing (is the TWU) publicly commenting on these incidents and the walking public deserves to be cynical about it,” he said.
“This kind of behavior is hypocritical and undermines the strong safety culture that exists throughout Australian aviation.”
A spokeswoman for Swissport said it encouraged reporting of all potential safety concerns, “regardless of whether these concerns are ultimately unfounded.”
“This is indicative of a high performing organisation, with a real commitment to safety,” he said.
He said Australian aviation ground operators had experienced “unprecedented staff turnover” since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said this was partly a result of the former Australian government’s decision to “exclude” them from the same support offered to airlines and airports.
The spokeswoman said Swissport was making “enormous efforts” to recruit and retain new staff, including hiring specialist recruitment firms, participating in job fairs and attracting university students.
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