Qantas has asked employees, including its senior executives, to come forward and volunteer as baggage handlers for up to three months.
The Australian carrier is looking for upwards of 100 volunteers to help ease ground handling pressures at Sydney and Melbourne airports. Tasks will include loading and unloading bags, and ferrying luggage around the airports.
The request to senior figures at the airline was made by chief operating officer Colin Hughes in an email seen by the BBC. Managers and executives were asked if they could work in baggage handling roles for three or five days a week, in shifts of four or six hours a day.
A Qantas spokesperson told the BBC the airline was "pulling out all the stops" to improve its operational performance, which they said "has not been meeting our customers’ expectations or the standards we expect of ourselves."
They added around 200 head office staff had previously assisted at airports during earlier peak travel periods, such as Easter.
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