‘Qantas’ conduct was egregious and unacceptable’: Airline hit with $120 million in penalties
Qantas has “admitted that it misled consumers” by advertising flights set to be cancelled, and selling 86,000 tickets to cancelled flights.
On Monday, it was revealed that Qantas has agreed to a court-enforceable undertaking to pay about $20 million to customers sold tickets on flights the airline had already decided to cancel, while the Federal Court will impose a further penalty of $100 million for breaching the Australian Consumer Law.
Qantas will pay $225 to domestic ticket holders and $450 to international ticket holders, on top of any remedies these consumers already received from Qantas, such as alternative flights or refunds.
This comes after the ACCC filed the Federal Court suit last August, alleging that between May 21, 2021 and July 7, 2022, Qantas advertised tickets for more than 8,000 cancelled flights, and for more than 10,000 flights scheduled to depart within that same window, Qantas did not promptly notify existing ticket holders that their flights had been cancelled.
“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,” ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said.
“The size of this proposed penalty is an important milestone in enforcing the Australian Consumer Law. 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.
“We expect that this penalty, if accepted by the Court, will send a strong deterrence message to other companies. Importantly, it demonstrates that we take action to ensure that companies operating in Australia communicate clearly, accurately and honestly with their customers at all times.
“We note that Qantas has also agreed not to repeat this type of conduct in the future, and to make payments as soon as possible to the thousands of consumers who purchased tickets on flights that Qantas had already decided to cancel, or were re-accommodated onto these flights after their original flight was cancelled.”
Cass-Gottlieb also acknowledged Qantas’ “cooperation in ultimately deciding not to contest this case, admitting that the conduct occurred for a longer period, and seeking to resolve this early and for the benefit of consumers.”
In a separate statement, Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson said the move was “another important step” in restoring customer confidence back in the airline.
“When flying resumed after the COVID shutdown, we recognise 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,” Hudson said.
“The return to travelling was already stressful for many and we did not deliver enough support for customers and did not have the technology and systems in place to support our people.
“We have since updated our processes and are investing in new technology across the Qantas Group to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
Keep up to date with the latest in media and marketing
Got a tip?
Nathan Jolly is the Features Editor at Mumbrella. He joined the team in July, 2023.
Linkedin
Have your say