The memo noted that air and ground crews have both been affected by disrupted flying schedules.
Internal memos obtained by nine newspapers show airline bosses noting a reduction in "cognitive capacity" and "recency" (the skills and regulation compliance required to fly) among expert pilots.
The memo also noted incidents in which pilots have misidentified "altitude as airspeed," instances of planes "commencing takeoff with (the) park brake set," and the loss of "situational awareness".
"Combined with reduced flying across the network, we recognise a flow on effect for flight crew's focus and familiarity with the operation," they said.
"Routine items that used to be completed with a minimum of effort now occupy more time and divert attention away from flying the aircraft."
Similarly, on-ground staff have also been affected by decreased flights. Issues as a result of team changes were noted as a reason for an incident which occurred on a Qantas flight from Sydney to Perth in June last year. A Boeing 787 aircraft was diverted back to Sydney 40 minutes into the flight after crew noticed that the landing gear had not been retracted after take off.
The final report from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said voluntary redundancies and personnel restructures meant the on-ground engineers in charge of the pre-flight inspections were not familiar with aircraft. They also found that only one person in the on-ground team had previous experience performing similar procedures on a similar aircraft.
"As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions, voluntary redundancies were offered to affected personnel," the report noted.
"A subsequent restructure of Qantas engineering took place in February 2021, which resulted in certain engineers being transitioned into new roles, on new aircraft types."
In a statement to news.com.au, a Qantas spokesperson said airlines across the world are working through the "complex process" of returning pilots to regular flying.
"We recognised very early that we needed to think differently about pilot recency, currency and refamiliarisation programs and so we designed an enhanced return-to-work program fit for the unprecedented challenge facing our industry," they said.
"Safety is our number one priority and all of the data shows that our pilots are coming back with the skills and confidence to do their job safely."
The aviation and tourism industry has been one of the hardest hit by the pandemic and Qantas has been no exception.
In mid-December 2021, the airline flagged they're expecting a $1.1 billion loss in the first six months of the financial year, with chief executive Alan Joyce saying it will have been "one of the worst halves of the entire pandemic".
Poor performance was credited to the extended Covid-19 lockdowns across the country, a recent fall in flight bookings and the emergence of the Omicron variant.
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