Consumer protection action against steps taken by major airline during Covid

Piper Alderman is acting for group members in a class action against Qantas Airways Limited. This matter arises out of Qantas’ deliberate strategy to avoid or otherwise delay the provision of refunds to its customers during Covid-19. The Class Action alleges that $1.2 billion was withheld by Qantas from its customers, instead being substituted into Flight Credits in breach of Qantas’ obligations to provide refunds for flights cancelled during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

The claim includes causes of action in contract, breach of consumer guarantees, misleading and deceptive conduct, unconscionable conduct and unjust enrichment. The action seeks refunds, interest and compensation for losses suffered by Qantas’ customers.

This Class Action is a major consumer protection action, affecting a significant number of Australians who booked flights with Qantas throughout a near two year period. It is a high profile matter that follows a number of other cases in which Qantas’ conduct during the Covid-19 pandemic has been impugned, including ACCC v Qantas in which Qantas was found to have engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct by offering and selling flights it had already decided to cancel, and TWU v Qantas in which Qantas was found to have acted in breach of its obligations under the Fair Work Act. Piper Alderman is seeking to hold Qantas to account for its strategic avoidance of providing refunds to its customers in breach of its own contractual as well as statutory obligations.