Australia’s Qantas Airways agreed to pay 120 million Australian dollars ($79 million) to settle a regulator lawsuit over the sale of thousands of tickets on already canceled flights, in a bid to end a reputation crisis that has has flooded the airline.
The company will distribute AU$20 million to more than 86,000 customers who booked tickets on the so-called ghost flights and pay a AU$100 million fine rather than defend the lawsuit it had previously promised to fight, Qantas and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said this on Monday.
The fine is the largest ever for an Australian airline and one of the highest globally in the industry, although some Australian banks and casino operators have imposed higher penalties for breaches of the law.
