Qantas to pay USD 79 million in compensation and a fine

Qantas, the Australian airline, has agreed to pay a USD 66 million fine as part of a settlement after a controversy surrounding "ghost flights." In addition to the fine, Qantas will compensate 86,000 affected travellers with USD 13 million.

Gina Cass-Gottlieb, Chairperson of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, criticized Qantas' actions, describing them as "egregious and unacceptable". Many consumers had made travel plans, only to discover that their booked flights were cancelled.

Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson regretted the airline's failure to meet its standards and apologized to affected customers. "We know many of our customers were affected by our failure to provide cancellation notifications promptly, and we are sincerely sorry," she said in a statement. She admitted that, in some instances, customers were booked on flights that had been cancelled days in advance.

The $66 million fine, equivalent to AUD 100 million, is subject to court approval.

Qantas, long-dubbed as the "Spirit of Australia," has been striving to improve its reputation. 

The airline faced backlash due to high ticket prices, service complaints, and significant staff layoffs during the Covid-19 pandemic.