National Carrier Sued for Selling Tickets of 8,000 Cancelled Flights

A line of Qantas aircraft sits at Kingsford Smith Airport in Sydney, Australia, on Oct. 31, 2021. James D. Morgan/Getty Images

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has sued national carrier Qantas for allegedly promoting and advertising tickets for over 8,000 flights even though they had already been cancelled.

The consumer watchdog launched legal action at the Federal Court of Australia on Aug. 31.

The flag carrier kept selling the tickets for an average of two weeks and some, for up to 47 days after the cancellation of the flights scheduled to depart between May and July 2022.

Qantas also did not notify existing ticketholders of more than 10,000 flights scheduled to depart in May and July 2022 that their trips had been cancelled.

“The ACCC has conducted a detailed investigation into Qantas’ flight cancellation practices. As a result, we have commenced these proceedings alleging that Qantas continued selling tickets for thousands of cancelled flights, likely affecting the travel plans of tens of thousands of people,” ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said on Aug. 31, in a statement.

“We allege that Qantas’ conduct in continuing to sell tickets to cancelled flights, and not updating ticketholders about cancelled flights, left customers with less time to make alternative arrangements and may have led to them paying higher prices to fly at a particular time not knowing that flight had already been cancelled.”

For instance, Qantas provided a consumer with a replacement flight a day before their original departure date.

The air carrier only communicated the action through the Qantas app and the consumer had to change connecting flights and had a 15-hour layover in Los Angeles, costing an additional $600.

The investigation found that Australia’s largest airline cancelled almost one in four flights in the period from May to July 2022. This includes the cancellation of about 5,000 out of 66,000 domestic and international flights from airports in all states and mainland territories in the company’s published schedule.

“We allege that Qantas made many of these cancellations for reasons that were within its control, such as network optimisation including in response to shifts in consumer demand, route withdrawals or retention of take-off, and landing slots at certain airports,” the watchdog’s chair said.

Ms. Cass-Gottlieb noted that the case addresses the airline’s conduct after it cancelled the flights and does not involve any breach regarding the actual flight cancellations.

Qantas in the Headlines

Qantas’ CEO Alan Joyce has come under fire recently after he lobbied to deny the request of Qatar Airways for additional flights in Australia.

Mr. Joyce said that granting the request would distort the market, a statement that Virgin Australia’s CEO Jayne Hrdlicka and Flight Centre’s Managing Director Graham Turner did not agree with.

Transport Minister Catherine King earlier defended her decision to reject the request of Qatar Airways to add 28 flights per week, saying it was to protect the national interest.

“You could argue that it could have been in Qantas’ interests, it certainly wasn’t in Virgin’s interest because they have a codeshare relationship with Qatar, so I just don’t think it was an argument that held any water,” Mr. Turner said.

“It’s a disappointing statement and I’m sure that every CEO in the country was disappointed to hear that there’s one company in the country that should be protected and profits should be protected,” Ms. Hrdlicka said.

Qantas reported an attributable statutory profit after tax of $1.75 billion (US$1.12 billion) in the 12 months to June 30, 2023, swinging from a loss of $860 million in the previous year. Its revenue rose to $19.82 billion from $9.11 billion.