The scale of airline staff shortages has been revealed after an airline asked its staff to carry luggage. Qantas has written to head office bosses looking for 100 volunteers to leave their desk jobs for three months and handle bags. They are required to load and unload luggage, as well as drive vehicles that transport luggage between planes and terminals. Applicants must be able to move luggage weighing up to 32 kg. Meanwhile, JetBlue’s boss said the US budget airline needs to overstaff because of the rate at which people are leaving the industry. It comes as the industry faces widespread staff shortages as companies struggle to cope with a sharp recovery in post-pandemic demand.

5 things to start your day

  1. Britain really isn’t working – and the crumbling NHS is to blame – Economic idleness has risen in the UK despite falling in most of the developed world
  2. Generation Rent ‘Government failure on housing’ – Redrow boss issues warning after Truss and Sunak promise to abandon housing targets
  3. Vegetable shortages loom as Europe battles heatwave – Water shortages and shipping chaos mean shoppers will have fewer options
  4. Why Europe is having a worse inflation crisis than Britain – The UK is experiencing less inflation than the average EU nation

What happened in the night

Shares were lower in Hong Kong this morning, with the Hang Seng index down 0.7%. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.4 percent and the Shenzhen Composite Index on China’s second bourse also fell 0.4 percent. Tokyo stocks traded in a narrow range. The Nikkei 225 opened lower, but then trended up 0.2%. The broader Topix index pared losses and fell 0.06%.

It’s coming today

Corporate: Clarkson, PageGroup (interim results)