Qantas settles A$105 million class action over COVID-19 flight credit refunds
Here's what it means for you.
If you or your clients booked Qantas flights during the pandemic, a major refund payout is now on the horizon—setting a global precedent for airline accountability.
What happened
Qantas Airways agreed to pay A$105 million (US$74 million) to settle a class action over its pandemic-era policy of issuing flight credits instead of cash refunds for cancelled flights.
The Context
- Refunds, not credits: Between January 2020 and November 2022, Qantas cancelled thousands of flights and gave customers time-limited travel credits, despite Australian law entitling them to cash refunds.
- Legal escalation: In August 2023, after regulatory pressure and a policy change allowing indefinite refunds, Echo Law filed a Federal Court class action on behalf of affected passengers.
- Financial impact: The settlement, nearly double Qantas’s earlier A$55 million provision, will be distributed to hundreds of thousands of customers—pending court approval.
The Number
— the total settlement pool, signaling the scale of delayed refunds and the financial risks for airlines handling customer funds during disruptions.
Takeaway
Expect airlines globally to rethink refund policies as legal and reputational risks around customer credits come under sharper scrutiny.
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