Australia's largest airline was heavily fined $100 million for misleading passengers, according to a report by Australia's Channel 9 on October 8.
Qantas has been fined $100 million for misleading customers about flight bookings over the years, and the court heard that the company's top management was partially aware of the act, according to the report.
(Image source: Channel 9)
The fine follows a lawsuit brought by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in the Federal Court against Qantas for dishonest conduct in the sale of tickets for cancelled flights.
The airline has admitted its own misconduct, including continuing to sell tickets for cancelled flights and delays in notifying passengers of the flights in question, which have misled and deceived consumers.
(Image source: Channel 7)
Qantas sold tickets for cancelled flights between May 21, 2021 and August 26, 2023, which were originally scheduled to fly between May 1, 2022 and May 10, 2024, affecting 86,597 customers and involving more than 70,000 flights, the report said.
The court was informed that Qantas continued to sell the tickets for a period of 11 to 62 days after the decision to cancel the flights, and that for passengers who had booked the tickets, it took between 11 and 67 days to notify them of the flight cancellation.
Christopher Caleo, a lawyer at the Competition and Consumer Commission, said senior executives were aware of all aspects of the issue, including that cancelled flights were not removed from the booking page and that customers could still book those flights. But none of the managers had a full understanding of the magnitude of the problem.
"Qantas was aware of the flaws in its systems and despite knowing that, this continued for a long time, affecting a large number of consumers," said Caleo. ”
(Image source: Internet)
Details of the fines show that Qantas was fined $70 million for continuing to sell tickets for cancelled flights, and $30 million for failing to notify customers of flight cancellations in a timely manner.
Caleo said given the company's position and market share as Australia's largest airline, heavy fines were needed to act as a deterrent.
The airline also expressed remorse for its actions in court today, with attorney Ruth Higgins saying: "Qantas is deeply sorry for its actions. ”
More than 86,000 affected customers received $20 million in compensation, including $225 for domestic customers and $450 for international customers.
Qantas said it had made improvements to its system and agreed to notify customers no more than 48 hours after a flight was cancelled and to stop selling tickets for that flight within 24 hours of a flight being cancelled.
This commitment also applies to its subsidiary, Jetstar Airways.
"By making these changes, Qantas demonstrates its desire to prevent this type of incident from happening again," Mr Higgins said. ”