In recent years, Australia Airlines has faced fierce investigation after revelations emerged about misleading practices affecting over a million passengers. These circumstances stained the airline's prominence and raised questions about the honorable obligations of companies in the aviation industry. It is a horrific scandal around Qantas Airways, where Australia's national carrier has been witnessed selling tickets for ten thousand canceled flights. The case was raised after court documents revealed that the airline missed nearly a million passengers due to this misleading. This recent news in the aviation market has stunned everyone and warned them to ideally accumulate proper information about Qantas Airways before reserving their flight.
Austrian Airlines is broadly known for its iconic kangaroo logo and brilliant commitment to efficient quality service. It has evolved controversial after many passengers reported differences in their flight experiences and faced a lot of trouble during their trip on Qantas flights. Many passengers found that the services promised during bookings, such as complimentary meals, extra baggage allowances, and in-flight entertainment, were not delivered as announced. The dissatisfaction was not limited to a few isolated incidents; it became clear that a systematic marketing approach had misled countless passengers for their fight joureny. Such controversy has led to significant financial penalties, management changes, and legal consequences, which revolve around the airline selling tickets for thousands of flights that had already been canceled.
According to court filings, Qantas deliberately marketed tickets for 71,000 flights scheduled between May 2022 and May 2024 after the flight cancellation. Over 884,000 passengers booked their tickets on flights that would never take off, and the travel agent also did not inform them about the flight cancellation. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) asserted that Qantas persisted in selling these tickets for an average of 11 days after determining the flight cancellation. But for some flights, it has posted the notification for delay reached as long as 18 days. After that, it settled the lawsuit in May 2024, paying A$120 million in penalties and compensations. This kind of settlement is associated with A$100 million in fines and an extra A$20 million in compensation to 87,000 victims of its Ghost flight policy. It is importnat to know that this case was initially brought by the ACCC, which sought a record penalty of over A$250 million.
The senior managers at Qantas were mindful of the systemic issues involving flight cancellations. The court's documents also expose the misleading sale of tickets despite knowing about the flight cancellation. Nevertheless, no single person was found to have had complete knowledge of this Ghost flight problem. Former CEO Alan Joyce has also stepped down for this scandal and encountered scrutiny over his leadership during this compulsory period.
Thus, this Ghost Flights incident reminds passengers of the significance of transparency and accountability in the airline industry, which is importnat to know clearly before reserving a flight ticket online or offline.