Regional airline Rex steps up feud with Qantas after airfare refunds

The feud between Qantas and Rex steps up with the regional airline publishing complaints from frustrated customers of the Flying Kangaroo.

Rex has taken out full page advertisements highlighting public discontent with the Flying Kangaroo over refunds.

The bitter feud between Qantas and Rex has stepped up a notch after Rex took out full page advertisements highlighting public discontent with the Flying Kangaroo over refunds.

The ad used dozens of social media posts made about Qantas to emphasise problems with the refund process during the Covid crisis which has resulted in thousands of flight cancellations.

Rex deputy chairman John Sharp said in contrast, they had refunded every passenger who had requested their money back for an eligible fare bought before April 1, 2021.

The Rex advertisement published in The Courier-Mail on Wednesday.

He said he believed it was the responsibility of the airline industry to instil confidence in air travel by making refunds readily available for flights cancelled due to Covid-related circumstances.

“If people have confidence they’re more likely to travel which will benefit the economy and the tourism industry,” said Mr Sharp. “What Qantas is doing is undermining that.”

He said Rex had raised the issue with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission which last year reminded airlines of their obligations to treat customers fairly.

“We would call upon the ACCC to look into these complaints and to follow up on them and to enforce the consumer laws as they apply,” Mr Sharp said.

A Qantas spokeswoman said they would not be dragged into “public slanging match” with Rex. “Our focus will remain on our customers and our people,” she said.

Claims made in the ad were refuted by the airline, including the suggestion Qantas owed $1 billion in refunds, and was keeping customers waiting for their money for more than a year.

“Since the start of the pandemic Qantas has assisted more than 2.5 million customers whose flights have been impacted by Covid-19 border restrictions, and offered increased flexibility for all customers, whatever ticket they buy,” the spokeswoman said.

“If a customer’s flight is cancelled due to Covid travel restrictions they can already choose a refund, a voucher or to travel at a later date.”

An ACCC spokesman said they were aware many businesses including Qantas were struggling to process high numbers of cancellations due to the Covid crisis.

“The ability of businesses to process refunds is also affected by resource or financial constraints arising from COVID-19 restrictions,” said the spokesman.

“This is a matter we continue to monitor and we are aware that Qantas has implemented processes designed to improve the time frames in which it processes Covid-19 cancellations.”

Rex and Qantas have previously clashed over regional routes and government grants with Rex accusing Qantas of anti-competitive behaviour.

Some of the customer complaints that appeared in the Rex advertisement.

Since the start of the pandemic Qantas has added more than 40 new routes, including several that were operated solely by Rex.

In response Rex threatened to pull off a number of routes, many of which were not the subject of competition from Qantas. To date Rex has not come good on its threats.

Government grants given to Qantas and Rex throughout the pandemic have also been fodder for the fight.

Qantas claimed the considerable financial assistance given to Rex was disproportionate to the airline’s size.

Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said if Qantas had received the same level of assistance as Rex, they would have got over $7 billion.

Mr Joyce’s suggestion that there was only room for two airline groups on major domestic routes in Australia also inflamed Rex management.

The fight then took a bizarre turn when Mr Sharp accused Qantas and Virgin Australia of colluding to try to sink Rex.

In their recent half year results, Qantas posted a $1.47 billion statutory loss, compared to Rex’s $9.9 million profit for the six months to December 2020.

As well as Sydney-Melbourne, Rex has added Melbourne-Gold Coast and Sydney-Canberra to its network. Melbourne-Canberra flights are due to begin on June 10, but appear set to be postponed due to Melbourne’s extended lockdown.