Qantas will pay A$100m (£53m) in penalties and A$20m to passengers as compensation for a legal dispute over the tickets it sold for cancelled flights.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) fine is among the highest ever for an Australian carrier and the most significant in the industry.
The ACCC filed a lawsuit against Qantas in the summer of last year, alleging that it had violated consumer law by selling tickets for more than 8,00 flights without disclosing cancellations.
The regulator stated that in one case Qantas continued to sell tickets for a Sydney-San Francisco flight 40 days after the flight had been cancelled.
Gina Cass Gottlieb, ACCC chair, stated that “Qantas’ conduct was egregious, and inacceptable”.
She said: “Many customers will have made travel, holiday and business plans after booking a phantom plane that was cancelled.
We expect that if the Court accepts this penalty it will send out a strong message of deterrence to other companies.
“Importantly it shows that we are taking action to ensure that Australian companies communicate with their customers in a clear, accurate and honest manner at all times.”
The “ghost flight”, a Qantas scandal, has sparked a national controversy about the flag carrier’s performance. The airline’s customer satisfaction has dropped dramatically.
Vanessa Hudson, the chief executive officer of the airline, stated that the agreement is “another step forward in our efforts to restore confidence in the national carriers”.
She blamed the pandemic for some administrative failures.
Ms Hudson stated: “When we resumed flying after the Covid closure, Qantas let customers down and fell short our own standards. We are sorry that our failure to send out cancellation notices in a timely fashion affected many of our customers.
The return to travel was already stressful for some and we didn’t provide enough support to our customers. We also did not have technology or systems in place to help support our employees.
Over 86,000 customers are eligible for compensation. Domestic ticket buyers will receive $225 each, and international travelers will get $450.
The Australian airline sold the tickets between May 2021 to August 2023. Qantas promises to contact affected customers within the next two month.
The ACCC warned people that scammers are contacting those who may be eligible for compensation.