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 is available at www.qantasremediation.deloitte.com.au.
Of customers affected, 94 per cent were flying on domestic or transtasman routes, with the remainder flying on the international network.
More than 80 per cent of passengers on domestic services were offered an alternative flight departing prior to or within three hours of the scheduled departure time.
More than 60 per cent of passengers on international services were offered an alternative flight departing prior to or within 12 hours of the scheduled departure time, the airline said.
It is not known how many Kiwi passengers are in line for the remediation payments but that number is expected to be small.
The ACCC and Qantas will shortly seek approval of the proposed penalty by the Federal Court. However, Qantas intends to commence the remediation programme in advance of the court approval process.
Qantas Group chief executive Vanessa Hudson said the settlement represented an important step forward in work towards restoring confidence in the national carrier.
“When flying resumed after the Covid shutdown, we recognise Qantas let down customers and fell short of our own standards,” she said.
“We know many of our customers were affected by our failure to provide cancellation notifications in a timely manner and we are sincerely sorry. The return to travelling was already stressful for many and we did not deliver enough support for customers and did not have the technology and systems in place to support our people.”
Hudson said the airline had since updated its processes and is investing in new technology to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
“We thank the ACCC for their cooperation in reaching this outcome, which means we can compensate affected customers much sooner than if the case had continued in the Federal Court. We are focused on making the remediation process as quick and seamless as possible for customers.”
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.
The ACCC last August launched action in the Federal Court alleging Qantas engaged in false, misleading or deceptive conduct, by advertising tickets for more than 8000 flights that it had already cancelled but not removed from sale.
The ACCC alleged that for more than 8000 flights scheduled to depart between May and July 2022, Qantas kept selling tickets on its website for an average of more than two weeks, and in some cases for up to 47 days, after the cancellation of the flights.
It also alleged that, for more than 10,000 flights scheduled to depart in May to July 2022, Qantas did not notify existing ticketholders that their flights had been cancelled for an average of about 18 days, and in some cases for up to 48 days.
The settlement followed the early departure of former chief executive Alan Joyce whose high pay became a target of anger at a time when the airline’s service levels had fallen. It was also found to have sacked 1700 ground handlers during the pandemic.
