Qantas Airways has reached a settlement agreement to pay 120 million Australian dollars (USD 79 million) in compensation and fines for selling tickets on thousands of flights that were subsequently cancelled, as reported by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) on Monday.
The ACCC filed a lawsuit against the airline last year, accusing Qantas of engaging in false, misleading, or deceptive conduct by advertising tickets for over 8,000 flights between May 2021 and July 2022 that had already been cancelled.
Qantas has agreed to settle the suit by paying a AU$100 million (USD 66 million) fine to the Australian government and providing an estimated AU$20 million (USD 13 million) in compensation to more than 86,000 affected customers.
Qantas’ CEO, Vanessa Hudson, stated, “Today represents another important step forward as we work towards restoring confidence in the national carrier. When flying resumed after the COVID shutdown, we recognize Qantas let down customers and fell short of our own standards. We know many of our customers were affected by our failure to provide cancellation notifications in a timely manner and we are sincerely sorry.”
Gina Cass-Gottlieb, Chair of the ACCC, emphasized the significance of Qantas’ admissions regarding its misleading conduct. She stated, “We are pleased to have secured these admissions by Qantas that it misled its customers, and its agreement that a very significant penalty is required as a result of this conduct.”
Cass-Gottlieb further highlighted the severity of Qantas’ actions, stating, “Qantas’ conduct was egregious and unacceptable. Many consumers will have made holiday, business, and travel plans after booking on a phantom flight that had been cancelled.”
The settlement also revealed that Qantas’ misconduct persisted until August last year, which is longer than initially alleged by the regulator in court.
In addition to the financial penalties, Qantas has committed to providing further remedies to affected customers, including alternative flights and refunds.
The settlement agreement is pending approval by a Federal Court judge.