Ottawa injects another $36M into vaccine injury compensation fund
The federal government has added $36.4 million to a program designed to support people who have been seriously injured or killed by vaccines since the end of 2020.
Australian airline Qantas has asked its senior executives to help out as airport baggage handlers as it struggles to manage a staff shortage.
The airline has called on at least 100 senior staff to join its outsourced ground handling teams at Sydney and Melbourne airports for three months.
"The high levels of winter flu and a COVID spike across the community, coupled with the ongoing tight labor market, make resourcing a challenge across our industry," Colin Hughes, Qantas' chief operating officer, said in a note sent to staff and shared with CNN Business on Monday.
Staff who accept the temporary arrangement will be expected to sort and scan bags, load them into aircraft and drive them around the airport, among other responsibilities. They will not be expected to carry out their ground handler role on top of their full-time positions, Hughes said in the note.
Executives opting into the role must also be "physically capable of moving and lifting bags of up to 32 kg (71 pounds) in weight," Hughes said.
"We've been clear that our operational performance has not been meeting our customers' expectations or the standards that we expect of ourselves — and that we've been pulling out all stops to improve our performance," a Qantas spokesperson told CNN Business.
Airlines have struggled to cope with a strong bounce back in travellers after two years of pandemic restrictions and staff cuts.
Qantas said in June 2020 that it would slash 20% of its total workforce, or about 6,000 jobs — mostly affecting its corporate, ground and flight staff — as it tried to stay afloat during the height of the pandemic.
Hughes said in his note that the company planned to recruit thousands of new staff, including ground handlers.
Robin Hayes, the CEO of JetBlue, told the BBC on Monday that his company was over-hiring because workers were leaving their jobs at such a high rate.
Airports are having it tough, too. In July, London's Heathrow airport, one of the busiest in the world, urged airlines to stop selling any more tickets for the summer, and said it would cap its daily departing passenger numbers at 100,000.
The federal government has added $36.4 million to a program designed to support people who have been seriously injured or killed by vaccines since the end of 2020.
B.C.’s premier and one of his top lieutenants are pushing back against allegations by the Official Opposition that he covertly commissioned a report into the diversion of safe supply drugs onto the streets.
Arrests have been made after five men were captured on video rampaging through a jewelry store in Toronto, waving weapons and smashing glass display cases.
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Doctors have transplanted a pig kidney into a New Jersey woman who was near death, part of a dramatic pair of surgeries that also stabilized her failing heart.
A new poll suggests the Liberals have not won over voters with their latest budget, though there is broad support for their plan to build millions of homes.
Appointing a trusted person to help with financial obligations can give you peace of mind. In his personal finance column for CTVNews.ca, Christopher Liew outlines the key benefits of naming a confidant to take over your financial responsibilities, if the need ever arises.
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
Students at a high school in York Region have been awarded perfect marks on their midterm exams in three subjects – not because of their academic performances however, but because they had no teacher.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.