Flight Cancellation Case: Qantas To Pay $66 Million Penalty

Qantas Airways, Australia's popular airline, said that it reached a settlement agreement with the country’s competition regulator to resolve court proceedings in connection with flight cancellation processes. Qantas Airways had agreed to pay a penalty of A$100 million ($66 million) to settle a lawsuit.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said in its statement that the airline has admitted that it misled consumers by advertising tickets for tens of thousands of flights it had already decided to cancel. Qantas has also agreed in a court-enforceable undertaking to pay about $20 million to more than 86,000 passengers affected by the cancellations. The ACCC noted that the airline will pay $225 to domestic ticketholders and $450 to international ticketholders. The regulator also said that these payments are on top of any remedies the affected customers have already received from the airline, such as alternative flights or refunds. Notably, the penalty of $66 million would be subject to the approval of the Federal Court of Australia.

The ACCC and Qantas will ask the Federal Court to impose a penalty of $100 million on Qantas, and Qantas has undertaken to pay about $20 million to customers who were sold tickets on flights that Qantas had already decided to cancel. https://t.co/q1WhNJbgw6 pic.twitter.com/ZYCNJ9sVsZ

— ACCC (@acccgovau) May 5, 2024

ACCC chairperson Gina Cass-Gottlieb said that the airline's conduct was "egregious and unacceptable." The chairperson also said that this penalty 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,” added Gina Cass-Gottlieb.

Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson said that the airline "let down customers and fell short of our own standards." Vanessa Hudson also admitted that their customers were affected by the airline's failure to provide cancellation notifications in a timely manner. Australia's competition regulator launched Federal Court action against Qantas in August 2023, alleging that the airline advertised tickets for more than 8,000 cancelled flights between May 2021 and July 2022.