Australian consumer watchdog calls for record fine against Qantas over cancelled flights

Australia's consumer watchdog calls for record fine for Qantas over allegedly selling tickets on thousands of cancelled flights. ACCC chair seeks penalty of more than double the current record of $81M. Qantas allegedly sold tickets up to 47 days after flights were cancelled, leaving customers with less time to make alternative bookings.

Australia's consumer watchdog on Friday called for Qantas Airways to be punished with a record fine for allegedly selling tickets on thousands of flights that had already been cancelled.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said Qantas' penalty for allegedly breaching consumer law should be more than double the Australian record 125 million Australian dollar ($81 million) fine imposed on the Volkswagen Group in 2019 for misleading customers about the level of exhaust emissions from its diesel engines.

“We consider that this should be a record penalty for this conduct,” Cass-Gottieb told Australian Broadcasting Corp. “We are going to seek a penalty that will underline that this is not just to be a cost of doing business.” “We consider these penalties to have been too low. We think the penalties should be in hundreds of million, not tens of million,” she added.

The commission filed a lawsuit against Qantas in the Federal Court Thursday alleging Australia's flagship airline engaged in false, misleading or deceptive conduct by advertising tickets for more than 8,000 flights from May through July last year that had already been canceled but not removed from sale.

Qantas cancelled 1-in-4 flights during the three-month period.

Qantas kept selling tickets on average for more than two weeks after flights were canceled and in some cases up to 47 days, the commission said.

Customers who bought tickets before flights were canceled were informed on average 18 days after the cancellations and in some cases 48 days later.