Qantas to scrap airport service desks, force passengers onto self service options

Qantas has announced it will axe its airport service and sales desks, with passengers left to handle travel arrangements through self-service kiosks, online services or call centres.

The airline will keep staffed check-in desks, but lost-baggage counter hours will be cut in favour of "self-serve recovery" and the oversized baggage desk will close.

Qantas said "floating" staff members at airports will help help customers purchase extra baggage allowance and help with flight issues.

READ MORE: Qantas CEO slams state border closures

There will be no changes to check-in desks for both premium and economy passengers.

Qantas said the new changes will begin in the first half of 2021. The airline expects them to cost 100 jobs.

The airline said the changes are part of its coronavirus cost-cutting plans, and also reflected changes in how people wanted to travel.

"There are a few factors behind this change. The main driver is an increasing shift towards people using our app to check in and manage their own bookings, particularly as we expand what the app can do," Phil Capps, Qantas executive manager product and service, said.

"This was happening before COVID but it has accelerated significantly since. Given that shift, we can't ignore the efficiencies that come with removing the traditional sales desks, particularly in the current environment."

He said Qantas expects most or all job losses will be voluntary redundancies.

But the Australian Services Union said the changes are a "betrayal" of the airline's workers.

Assistant National Secretary Emeline Gaske said it was a bitter pill to swallow for workers who have been managing on little to no pay for months but have stuck by Qantas.

"Workers feel betrayed – they were asked to stand by the company in tough times and just as there's a glimmer of hope with borders re-opening they're being thrown out on the street," she said.

"It's a nasty Christmas gift from Qantas."

She said the move would create a nightmare for passengers travelling for Christmas to see family, when the Victorian border opens to other states including NSW.

Ms Gaske said cutting lost baggage service would be especially hard for passengers.

"If you're at the airport and your bag is missing you will have to call a contact centre in Hobart. By the time your bag is found, it could be on the other side of the country – if they find it at all," she said.