Qantas workers urged not to take abuse from passengers over ACCC allegations

Qantas unions have lashed out at Alan Joyce for leaving frontline workers to deal with customer outrage at ‘ghost flight’ allegations.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce facing the Senate Committee inquiry on cost of living. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Aaron Francis

Qantas unions have lashed out at chief executive Alan Joyce over the latest controversy engulfing the airline, saying “finally the public are seeing him as we have over the last 15 years”.

With two-months of Mr Joyce’s tenure remaining, Qantas has been plunged deeper into crisis with allegations the airline sold tickets on already cancelled flights for several months last year.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has launched Federal Court action in response to claims of “false, misleading and deceptive conduct”.

ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said they would be seeking more than a record penalty of around $250m, double the previous highest penalty issued to a company for a breach of Australian Consumer Law.

Flight Attendants Association of Australia federal secretary Teri O’Toole said it was concerned passengers would take out their anger and frustration on cabin crew.

She said flight attendants had already copped verbal abuse from passengers over Mr Joyce’s decision to paint Yes on three aircraft in support of the Voice to Parliament referendum.

“There was a lot of pushback on planes from passengers saying ‘he shouldn’t be telling people how to vote’, ‘it’s political’, ‘he should mind his own business’ and I don’t know what the overflow on (the ACCC’s allegations) will be,” said Ms O’Toole.

“We’re telling members ‘passengers have a right to be annoyed but not at you’. Cabin crew did not make any of these decisions. They were made by the board and the CEO.”

She said it was somewhat ironic that it had taken until Mr Joyce’s final days for the public to see him as many employees had.

“It’s taken them a long time to work out that this particular emperor isn’t wearing any clothes,” said Ms O’Toole.

The Flight Attendants Association of Australia has written to members, urging them not to take abuse from passengers over allegations Qantas was selling tickets on cancelled flights.

Australian Services Union assistant national secretary Emeline Gaske said the alleged actions by Qantas were “yet another example of the contempt the airline holds for its customers and staff”.

“They are the ones who have been left to deal with the fallout of disrupted travel plans,” said Ms Gaske.

“Incoming leadership at Qantas has a serious job ahead of them, when it comes to repairing the significant and entirely avoidable damage done to the airline’s brand and relationships with workers and customers.”

Transport Workers Union secretary Michael Kaine said it was clear Qantas and aviation needed a “total reset”, starting with an ideological do-over at Qantas and a Safe and Secure Skies Commission to be set up.

“It’s taken 15 years of wage suppression, attacks on workers, grounding of the fleet, and illegal outsourcing, but Alan Joyce finally faced a moment of reckoning before the Senate Committee on Monday,” Mr Kaine said.

“Alan Joyce’s apologies to Qantas customers have become an annual event, coinciding with financial results and a deservedly angry media storm. Apologies only mean something if there is a change in behaviour. Being dragged kicking and screaming to admissions of poor service standards and hoarding of hundreds of millions in customer refunds is the absolute bare minimum.”

Pilots associations declined to comment on the latest controversy.

Qantas indicated on Thursday it would respond in full in court, to the allegations made by the ACCC.

It remained unclear if the selling of tickets on already cancelled flights was a deliberate act to drive revenue, or some sort of large scale system failure.

The ACCC’s investigations identified more than 10,000 flights that were cancelled more than two weeks before passengers were informed.

The figure included 8000 flights where tickets continued to be sold up to 47-days after they were cancelled.

It was alleged the “ghost flight” sales occurred between May and July 2022, when airlines were struggling to ramp up services in response to demand.

The matter was expected to be heard in the Federal Court before Mr Joyce departed the airline in November.

Originally published as Qantas workers urged not to take abuse from passengers over ACCC allegations