The Federal Court of Australia has ordered Qantas to pay $100 million in penalties for misleading customers by continuing to sell tickets for canceled flights, also known as “ghost flights”, without informing the ticket holders.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commision (ACCC) announced the penalties on October 8, 2024, after the carrier acknowledged it had violated Australian Consumer Law (ACL) and agreed to collaborate with the ACCC in submissions to the court.
“This is a substantial penalty, which sets a strong signal to all businesses, big or small, that they will face serious consequences if they mislead their customers,” said ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb.
Qantas admitted that it had provided false or misleading flight information to the public between May 2022 and May 2024, continuing to sell tickets for flights it had canceled on both domestic and international routes.
On average, tickets for these canceled flights were available for purchase for around 11 days after the cancellations and, in some cases, for as long as 62 days after. In total, 86,597 customers (81,238 made a booking on a domestic flight and 5,359 on an international flight) were impacted on 70,543 flights (69,237 domestic flights and 1,306 international).
Additionally, the carrier admitted to delaying notifying ticket holders of flight cancellations and continuing to show flight details on the “Manage Booking” page for two or more days after deciding to cancel flights without notice. This impacted 60,297 flights (57,274 domestic and 3,023 international) and affected 883,997 customers (806,406 made a booking on a domestic flight and 77,571 on an international flight).
In addition to the $100 million in penalties, Qantas will also be required to refund around $20 million to customers who made bookings on, or were re-booked on, a flight that had already been canceled. Domestic ticket holders are eligible to receive payments of $225 each, while international ticket holders will get $450.
“A large, well-resourced company like Qantas should have had strong operating and compliance programs in place that would have prevented these issues from arising,” Cass-Gottlieb added.
The ACC also stated that after proceedings began, Qantas updated its operating and scheduling systems to ensure that “it is no longer engaging in the conduct”.