 "This airline sold 86,000 seats on flights that were already cancelled. Now it will pay $66 mln fine")
Qantas, the Australian airline, that left many passengers stranded at airports across the continent last week, will now have to pay $79 over the ‘ghost flights’ furor.
Trouble for Qantas
The airline will have to pay a fine of $66 million as part of a settlement after a controversial “ghost flights” scandal, following accusations it kept selling tickets for already cancelled flights.
Qantas has also agreed to compensate more than 86,000 affected travelers with $13 million as they were impacted by the cancellations and botched rescheduling.
Qantas’ ‘ghost-flight’ scandal
As per Australia’s competition watchdog, Qantas “admitted that it misled consumers” by advertising seats on tens of thousands of flights – despite those flights being cancelled.
Qantas said, in some cases, customers were booked on flights that had been cancelled “two or more” days prior.
Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson said, “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 in a statement.
The US$66 million (Aus$100 million) fine is subject to court approval.
Previously, Qantas defended selling seats on cancelled flights. It argued that rather than buying tickets for specific seats, customers buy a “bundle of rights” and a promise the airline will “do its best to get consumers where they want to be on time”.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts‘Qantas’ conduct egregious and unacceptable’
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairperson Gina Cass-Gottlieb said, “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.”
“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,” Cass-Gottlieb said.
Long-dubbed the “Spirit of Australia”, 103-year-old national carrier Qantas has been on a mission to repair its reputation.
It has faced a consumer backlash stirred up by soaring ticket prices, claims of sloppy service and the sacking of 1,700 ground staff during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Last year, Qantas posted an annual profit of $1.1 billion, capping a major financial rebound after the travel turbulence of the Covid years.
Amid a barrage of criticism, the then-CEO Alan Joyce announced his early retirement in September last year.
With inputs from agencies
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