Qantas planes are seen at Kingsford Smith International Airport, following the coronavirus outbreak, in Sydney, Australia, March 18, 2020. Photo by Reuters
Australia’s Qantas Airways has deceived 900,000 customers through a “ghost-flight” system which offered non-existent services, a court document shows.
Between May 2021 and August 2023, the largest airline in the country knowingly sold tickets that it had already canceled without informing its customers, the Federal Court of Australia said in a statement released to the public recently.
When the airline canceled a flight, it would rebook passengers onto alternative flights.
Up to 884,000 customers were not informed immediately that they were down to travel on flights that had already been cancelled.
Senior managers at Qantas knew of the impacts of this practice on passengers.
“Qantas was aware of the way in which its system operated,” the statement said. “Consumers suffered harm as a result of Qantas’ contravening conduct.”
Qantas last year paid AUD$120 million (US$82 million) in fines and compensation to settle the case.
The allegations by Australian regulators led to the premature departure of CEO Alan Joyce last September.
The airline’s systems have since been updated.
