Qantas settlement sets new industry standard, says ACCC Chair
With its $120 million settlement with Qantas, Gina Cass-Gottlieb's ACCC has avoided a drawn out lawsuit, secured a payout for consumers and, she says, set a new industry standard for flight cancellations.
ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb has said reaching a swift settlement with Qantas over its sale of tickets for flights it had already decided to cancel was a pragmatic decision, and it achieved the best outcome for consumers while setting a new industry standard for flight cancellations.
But despite describing Qantas’ overall conduct in the consumer lawsuit as “egregious and unacceptable,” the regulator dropped part of its case: a claim against the airline over fees for no service, or wrongful acceptance of payment. It also settled for less than half the penalties it had targeted when it launched its case in September.
“We chose to settle early and benefit consumers, rather than hold out for an additional contravention when we already have an admission in relation to serious contraventions in relation to the misrepresentations and also misleading representations to thousands of customers,” Cass-Gottlieb said in an interview with Capital Brief.
In reaching a deal with the ACCC to fork out $120 million in penalties and compensation for so-called ghost flights, Qantas will be hoping to draw a line under a damaging episode that battered its reputation. The case also helped trigger the early retirement of chief executive Vanessa Hudson’s predecessor, Alan Joyce, as well as boardroom upheaval at the national flag carrier.
