The Qantas Group has today announced an agreement with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to resolve court proceedings in relation to flight cancellation processes.
Under the settlement agreed with the ACCC, Qantas will commence a projected $20 million remediation program for impacted passengers, with payments to customers ranging from $225 to $450, and subject to the approval of the Federal Court of Australia, will pay a $100 million civil penalty.
The ACCC and Qantas will shortly seek approval of the proposed penalty by the Federal Court. However, Qantas intends to commence the remediation program in advance of the Court approval process.
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The ACCC’s case related to flight cancellation practices following the restart of operations post-COVID, which has been extended through to the end of August 2023, when steps were taken to ensure that processing of cancellation decisions occurred promptly.
The ACCC is no longer proceeding with its claims against Qantas about wrongful acceptance of payment, including any allegation that Qantas received payment for a service it did not, and had no intention of, providing.
All affected customers were given the option of a refund or an alternate flight.
Customer remediation program
More than 86,000 customers who made a booking on a flight two or more days after the cancellation decision had been made will be compensated as part of this program. Those impacted customers will receive $225 for domestic/trans-Tasman flights and $450 for international flights. This is on top of any refund or alternative flight already offered to these customers.
Payments will be available through a dedicated online portal facilitated by professional services firm, Deloitte, and will be independently audited. Qantas will be notifying impacted customers via email from next month with details about how they can lodge a claim. Further information can be found at
www.qantasremediation.deloitte.com.au
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