Qantas Group has reached an agreement with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to resolve a lawsuit related to flight cancellations.
The company has initiated a $20 million AUD relief program for affected customers, offering $225 AUD per person for domestic and Trans-Tasman routes and $450 AUD for international flights, in addition to already provided alternatives or refunds. Deloitte is revealing the application procedure through its website. Additionally, Qantas will pay a fine of $100 million AUD.
CEO Vanessa Hudson stated, “We acknowledge that Qantas Airways disappointed our customers and fell below our own standards when we resumed operations after the halt due to COVID-19. We understand that the lack of timely cancellation notifications impacted many of our customers deeply, for which we sincerely apologize. The return to travel has already been a source of stress for many, and we were not able to provide sufficient support to our customers or have the technology and systems in place to support our staff. Since then, we have updated our processes and invested in new technology across the Qantas Group to prevent such occurrences from happening again.”
According to the ACCC, between May and July of 2022, Qantas Airways continued to sell tickets for over 8,000 flights it decided to cancel, up to 47 days in advance. This potentially left customers with high costs due to the lack of time to arrange alternative flights.
