Qantas to pay $79 million to sell tickets on canceled flights – Davidson News

Qantas Airways has reached a settlement agreement to pay A$120 million ($79 million) in compensation and fines over ticket sales on thousands of flights that were later canceled, as reported on Monday the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

The ACCC launched legal action against the airline last year, accusing Qantas of engaging in false, misleading or deceptive conduct by advertising tickets for more than 8,000 flights between May 2021 and July 2022 which had already been canceled.

Qantas agreed to settle the dispute by paying a fine of 100 million Australian dollars ($66 million) to the Australian government and providing compensation estimated at 20 million Australian dollars ($13 million) to more than 86,000 customers concerned.

Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson said: “Today represents another important milestone as we work to restore confidence in the national carrier. When flights resumed after the COVID shutdown, we recognized that Qantas had let its customers down and failed to meet our own standards. We know that many of our customers have been affected by our failure to provide timely cancellation notifications and we sincerely apologize for this.

Gina Cass-Gottlieb, chair of the ACCC, highlighted the importance of Qantas’ admissions to its misleading conduct. She said: “We are pleased to have obtained an admission from Qantas that it misled its customers and its agreement that a very significant sanction is required as a result of this conduct. »

Cass-Gottlieb further highlighted the seriousness of Qantas’ actions, saying: “Qantas’ conduct was egregious and unacceptable. Many consumers will have made holiday, business and travel plans after booking on a ghost flight that had been cancelled.

The settlement also revealed that Qantas’ misconduct continued until August last year, which is longer than the regulator initially alleged in court.

In addition to financial penalties, Qantas has committed to providing other remedies to affected customers, including alternative flights and refunds.

The settlement agreement is awaiting approval by a Federal Court judge.