Qantas Airways, the Australian airline accused of selling tickets for canceled flights, has agreed with the authorities to end the lawsuit by paying a fine and compensation of 120 million Australian dollars (approximately $86 million).
Reuters reported that, according to Qantas and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), on the 6th (local time), Qantas was fined 100 million Australian dollars (approximately $72 million) and agreed to pay an additional 20 million Australian dollars (approximately $14 million) to compensate the 86,000 customers who booked tickets for so-called ghost flights.
Reuters reported that this fine is the largest in the Australian aviation industry.
According to the ACCC, Qantas canceled about 15,000 flights, a quarter of its flights scheduled to depart between May and July 2022. However, it is accused of disrupting consumers’ travel by selling tickets for an average of two weeks or more after the cancellation of these 8,000 flights was confirmed.
The decision for Qantas to reach an agreement after initially declaring that they would fight the lawsuit appears to be an effort to prevent a plummeting company image due to the surge in customer complaints resulting from the sale of tickets for canceled flights.
Qantas Airways’ CEO, Vanessa Hudson, stated, “We acknowledge that we have disappointed our customers and fallen short of our standards.”
Hudson added that this agreement allows them to compensate their customers more quickly than if the lawsuit were to proceed.
ACCC Chairman Gina Cass-Gottlieb stated, “The fine Qantas agreed to will send a strong deterrent message to other businesses.”