Qantas has paid a heavy price for booking passengers on flights during the Covid pandemic that they had already cancelled.
The airline has come to an agreement with Australia’s consumer and
competition watchdog, the ACCC, to share A$20 million (US$13 million) in
compensation between more than 86,000 affected customers.
It has also agreed to pay a A$100 million penalty.
The ACCC alleged that Qantas, between 21 May 2021 and 7 July 2022,
sold thousands of tickets on flights it had already cancelled.
According to the ACCC, Qantas also rebooked some customers with cancelled flights onto other flights it had already cancelled.
The consumer watchdog also said that Qantas had failed to notify
existing ticket holders that their flights had been cancelled within a
reasonable timeframe.
ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb described Qantas’ conduct as “egregious and unacceptable”.
As part of its settlement with the ACCC, Qantas has undertaken to
notify customers of cancelled flights as soon as practicable, and no
more than 48 hours from deciding to cancel the flight.
“When flying resumed after the Covid shutdown, we recognise Qantas
let down customers and fell short of our own standards,” Qantas CEO
Vanessa Hudson said.