Staff Come Out Tops In Qantas Job Tender
The Age
Tuesday February 3, 1998
Three Qantas staff teams have beaten a field of 30 external contractors to win an outsourcing tender, in a deal that will save the airline tens of millions of dollars a year.
The staff have been selected as the preferred bidders for the passenger and ramp handling services in Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth airports.
Qantas's chief executive, Mr James Strong, said the bid would save the company "tens of millions" of dollars a year in manpower and operating costs.
But up to 300 staff, mainly in Melbourne and Brisbane, could accept redundancies as a result of the changes, although "a substantial number of positions" would be refilled by part-time workers.
"The final internal staff bids will deliver significant savings in manpower and operating costs across the three airports immediately and over the next five years," Mr Strong said.
The deal involves greater flexibility in the use of part-time employees and improvements in work practices and rostering.
Competitive tendering for all airport operations has been part of Qantas's policy to help the airline contain costs. In some areas, staff have won, but in such areas as printing, security and the maintenance of wheels and brakes, outside contractors have replaced staff.
Mr Strong said the past four years had been a watershed in overhauling restrictive workplace practices, but substantial opportunities for such rationalisation also existed in other areas of the company.
"Where people are not prepared to be realistic, we will put them to the (competitive tendering) test," he said.
Qantas will decide on the award contracts and sign the agreements within the next month.
Six monthly reviews will ensure that the staff teams meet their targets. If they fail, the contracts can then automatically be awarded to an outside bidder.
Tenders for passenger and ramp services will be awarded for Sydney, Coolangatta, Cairns and Townsville in the middle of the year.
Meanwhile, the Melbourne Airport part-owners BAA plc last night announced a nine-monthly profit of 415 million ($A992.8 million), up 4.5 per cent, for the nine months to December.
BAA reported airport and other traffic charges - contributed mainly by their flagship hubs of Heathrow and Gatwick - rose 4 per cent to 400.9 million.
Contributions from the company's international operations more than doubled to 15.4 million, after BAA's 25 per cent-owned Australian joint venture, Australian Pacific Airports, bought Tullamarine in the middle of last year.
© 1998 The Age