Qantas massive policy change on Covid-19 cancelled flight refunds

Bowing to public pressure after Qantas was savaged over cancelled flights, Alan Joyce is set to announce a major concession.

Qantas Airways will scrap the expiry date on flight refunds for $370 million of flights cancelled or disrupted due to the border closures during Covid-19.

Bowing to public pressure after Qantas CEO Alan Joyce was savaged over the mess, senior sources at Qantas told news.com.au that an announcement will be made this afternoon.

Mr Joyce issued a grovelling apology to customers for the furore in a video address today.

“Hello, I’m Alan Joyce,’’ the Qantas CEO says in the video.

“Today we’re scrapping the expiry dates on all travel credits that came out of COVID.

“If you have a Qantas COVID credit, you can request a cash refund at any point in the future.

“And if you have a Jetstar COVID voucher, you can use it for travel indefinitely.

Mr Joyce said the company had “listened” to furious customers.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce. Picture NCA NewsWire / Aaron Francis

“We know the credit system was not as smooth as it should have been,’’ he said.

“And, while we’ve improved it recently, and extended the expiry date several times, people lost faith in the process.”

In an olive branch to Qantas frequent flyers the company will also offer incentives to use the credit towards their next journey.

“That’s why we’re also announcing a double Frequent Flyer Point offer when you book a flight with your Qantas COVID credit before the end of the year,’’ he said.

“All up, this is one of the most flexible approaches that any airline has taken to its COVID credits.”

The airline is already facing a class action over the refunds and claims it planned to pocket the money if customers failed to seek a refund in time.

The changes mean there will be no expiry date for seeking a refund for the flights.

Customers who had their flights cancelled by the airline due to a Covid-19 lockdown will be able to request a refund indefinitely.

The airline had previously set a deadline for December 2023. Flight credits for Jetstar will also remain in place indefinitely.

In a separate development, the consumer watchdog has launched Federal Court action against Qantas, alleging the airline advertised tickets for 8000 flights that had already been cancelled.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers described the claims as “deeply concerning allegations”.

“We won’t be commenting further on this particular case while the matter is before the courts,” Mr Chalmers said.

“This is the consumer watchdog doing its job and a reminder that businesses need to do the right thing by people – breaches of consumer law carry heavy penalties.”

The ACCC will allege that for more than 10,000 flights scheduled to depart in that period, Qantas did not notify existing ticket holders their flights had been cancelled for up to 48-days.

“This conduct affected a substantial proportion of flights cancelled by Qantas between May to July 2022,” said the ACCC.

“It’s alleged that for about 70 per cent of cancelled flights, Qantas either continued to sell tickets for the flight on its website for two days or more, or delayed informing existing ticketholders that their flight was cancelled for two days or more, or both.”

Mr Joyce copped a grilling over his pay, executive bonuses and the refund mess when he appeared before a Senate committee on the cost of living this week.

“This is one of the most discredited companies, as far as the ACCC on its record of complaints, and you are saying you should be rewarded in $25 million is ok,” Labor Senator Tony Sheldon said.

“Do you not feel embarrassed? I would feel embarrassed if I was you.”

A Qantas Boeing 787 Dreamliner airplane at New York John F. Kennedy airport. Picture: iStock

During the hearings, Jetstar CEO Steph Tully admitted the budget carrier is also holding about $100 million in unclaimed flight credits from pandemic-related cancellations on top of the Qantas tally which is $370 million.

“You’re not being transparent,” Senator Sheldon said to Joyce.

“You’ve just admitted there’s another $100m that’s not been disclosed.”

Qantas said it would itemise unclaimed flight credits and provide the list to the committee.

Mr Joyce also refused to reveal whether any family members of any politicians had been provided free memberships to the invite-only Qantas Chairman’s lounge.

It follows reports that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’ 23-year-old son, Nathan, was a member of the invite-only Qantas Chairman’s lounge, a fact that is not mentioned on Mr Albanese’s register of public interests.

“I will not be making any comment on that,” Mr Joyce said.

But the ongoing furore over the refund deadline prompted Mr Albanese to urge Qantas to act.

“Well, I think that when people have booked flights and paid money they should either get access to another flight at another time or they should get their money back,’’ the Prime Minister said.

FAQs from the Qantas site

Can you automatically refund people’s credit card rather than following a process through Qantas?

Given bookings that have been converted into COVID credits date back to 2019, most credit cards used have expired by now, meaning the funds will bounce back if we attempt to refund onto them.

Why can’t Qantas post a cheque?

Aside from cheques being outmoded, people aren’t asked for their postal address when they book a flight. While we have postal addresses for some Frequent Flyers, these aren’t regularly updated.