The largest airline in Australia, Qantas, has consented to pay a penalty of A$100 million ($66.1 million, £52.7 million) in order to resolve a lawsuit alleging that it sold thousands of tickets for flights that it had already canceled.
The company would also introduce a plan worth up to A$20 million to compensate impacted passengers in accordance with the agreement with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
Vanessa Hudson, the CEO of Qantas, stated that the action was a significant step in "restoring confidence in the national carrier."
In August, the ACCC initiated the "ghost flight" complaint, alleging that Qantas had sold tickets for flights that were canceled for weeks at a time in certain cases.
The Federal Court of Australia will now need to approve the penalty deal between Qantas and the ACCC.
Customers who purchased tickets for flights that had previously been canceled for two or more days would be eligible for reimbursement under the terms of the scheme.
The airline claims that they would be paid A$225 for tickets on domestic flights and A$450 for seats on foreign flights.
"We acknowledge that Qantas disappointed customers when flights resumed following the Covid shutdown," Ms. Hudson stated. She added that since taking over the position last year, she had made it her top mission to repair the airline's reputation.
In order to prevent a recurrence of the issue, she added, the company had redesigned its procedures and made technological investments.
"We are pleased to have secured these admissions by Qantas that it misled its customers, and its agreement that a very significant penalty is required", ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said.
When Ms. Hudson took over as the airline's first female leader, Qantas was dealing with a number of scandals and court battles.
The corporation was guided by her predecessor, Alan Joyce, through the pandemic, the 2008 financial crisis, and record fuel costs.
However, Qantas was dealing with mounting public ire over costly airfares, frequent delays and cancellations, and its treatment of employees by the time Mr. Joyce resigned in 2023.
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