The beleaguered freight division of Qantas Airways said late Thursday that it could take another two weeks for some key cargo terminals in Australia to dig out from the logjam of shipments caused by a troublesome switchover to a new cargo management system.

Data from the legacy system was supposed to be integrated into the new one, but glitches in digital communication and cargo processing immediately cropped up on Sept. 24. Nearly two weeks into the crisis, Qantas Freight is struggling to keep shipments flowing and says it will be up to two weeks before warehouse operations at the Sydney and Melbourne airports return to normal, according to a notice posted on its website. The airline said its cargo facility in Brisbane could be restored to proper order in about seven days.

“We’re working hard to process your freight and clear the backlog, but appreciate it’s not as fast as we’d hoped or as quickly as you’d expect. Our recovery timeline is dependent on the freight in our warehouse being collected as soon as possible, and for our major customers, we’ll be extending our open hours for collections to 24/7 where possible to provide maximum flexibility,” Qantas said. “We’re incredibly grateful for the patience and understanding of many of our customers who have been rightly concerned about their freight.”

Paul Zalai, director of the Freight & Trade Alliance, on Thursday criticized Qantas’ slow response and suggested angry freight forwarders would demand compensation for financial burdens resulting from multiday delays retrieving shipments. Logistics companies are finally beginning to see some improvement in their ability to pick up shipments that arrived as consolidations in shared containers, he said in an email message on Friday.

Qantas said terminal teams are working around the clock to clear the cargo backlog and keep recent freight arrivals moving without delay.

Logistics providers say manual procedures have not successfully substituted for automated ones. Continuing challenges include the inability of the new system to communicate with X-ray scanning machines, breakdowns in messaging with Australian Customs for clearing imports to enter the country and difficulties tracking the location of shipments.

Qantas management on Friday urged freight forwarders to stop contacting employees they have relationships with seeking favors to expedite their cargo, saying “this in fact is creating duplication of effort across multiple channels and in fact counterproductive to assisting us clear cargo,” according to correspondence shared with members by the Freight & Trade Alliance. It recommended shippers use the customer service email address or contact section of the website for queries. 

 While it works to make IT fixes, the airline has implemented a number of workarounds, including:

• Adding extra staff and hiring third parties to assist with staging loads on the tarmac, stuffing containers and loading aircraft.
• Manually processing data.
• Implementing safety measures to facilitate overnight work.
• Creating extra airside staging and bulk delivery areas in Sydney and Melbourne.
• Using other Qantas Group assets such as road feeder service Jets Transport Express to spread distribution.
• Prioritizing aircraft space and clearance for critical commodities, such as human organs and remains, urgent medical products, animals, emergency parts for aircraft repairs and perishables.

Qantas Freight operates a dozen freighters of various sizes on domestic and international routes, and manages cargo carried by the flag carrier’s passenger aircraft, as well as partner airlines. One of its main customers is Australia Post.

The company said it plans in the coming days to bring on more third-party providers in Australia and at overseas freight stations to expedite cargo processing. 

Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.

Twitter: @ericreports / LinkedIn: Eric Kulisch / [email protected]

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