Qantas has agreed to compensate a combined $20 million to 86,597 customers that the airline now admits it “misled”, after the ACCC commenced legal action against the airline.
In August 2023, the ACCC alleged that Qantas had sold thousands of tickets on 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. According to the ACCC, Qantas did not inform customers about cancelled flights for an average of 18 days. In some cases, it was up to 48 days.
This was something that many AFF members experienced. It was particularly frustrating for customers who knew Qantas had “zeroed out” the inventory on their flight, but were unable to rebook without paying a fee. The Qantas call centre told many of these people that their flights were still going ahead as scheduled.
According to the ACCC, Qantas also rebooked some customers with cancelled flights onto other flights it had already cancelled.
What Qantas and the ACCC have to say
Qantas initially argued in its defence that it does not sell tickets for specific flights. Instead, it claimed it sold a “bundle of rights”. However, as part of the out-of-court settlement reached this week with the ACCC, Qantas acknowledged it let customers down.
The airline maintains it did not receive payment for services it had no intention of providing.
“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.
“We know many of our customers were affected by our failure to provide cancellation notifications in a timely manner and we are sincerely sorry. The return to travelling was already stressful for many and we did not deliver enough support for customers and did not have the technology and systems in place to support our people.
“We have since updated our processes and are investing in new technology across the Qantas Group to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb described Qantas’ conduct as “egregious and unacceptable”.
“Many consumers will have made holiday, business and travel plans after booking on a phantom flight that had been cancelled,” Cass-Gottlieb said.
“We note that Qantas has also agreed not to repeat this type of conduct in the future, and to make payments as soon as possible to the thousands of consumers who purchased tickets on flights that Qantas had already decided to cancel, or were re-accommodated onto these flights after their original flight was cancelled.”
Going forward, Qantas has agreed to promptly inform customers after it makes a decision to cancel a flight. That’s good news for consumers.
Qantas also agreed to pay a $100 million fine.
The ACCC has posted full details of the undertaking on its website.
Qantas Customer Remediation Program
In addition to any refunds or alternative flights already provided, Qantas will provide one-off compensation payments to 86,597 customers. These will go to people who bought tickets or were rebooked onto flights that Qantas had already decided to cancel. Customers who simply received delayed notification about their flight cancellation are not eligible for additional compensation.
94% of people eligible for the payment had booked domestic or trans-Tasman flights, and will each receive $225. The remaining 6% of customers with other international bookings are entitled to $450. These payments are on a per-flight basis, so some people might receive multiple payments.
Eligible bookings must have been between 21 May 2021 and 26 August 2023, for flights scheduled to depart between 1 May 2022 and 10 May 2024.
Deloitte is managing the “Qantas Customer Remediation Program” on behalf of Qantas.
If you’re eligible for a payment, you’ll receive an email and an SMS from Qantas or Deloitte in June or July 2024. The Deloitte website has more information about the process.
Qantas and Deloitte have not yet started to contact impacted customers. So, if you’ve already received a notification, it’s probably a scam.
