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Qantas to pay about $74–105M to settle COVID-era flight credits class action

Qantas has agreed to settle a class action over its decision to issue flight credits instead of immediate cash refunds for COVID-cancelled flights, agreeing to pay roughly $74–105 million without admitting liability. The suit, filed by Echo Law for “hundreds of thousands” of customers, covered bookings from 1 Jan 2020 to 1 Nov 2022.

Discovered 2026-03-12T15:48:48.343546-07:00 | 2026-03-12T15:48:48.343546-07:00

Briefing

What Hype is tracking

  • Settlement size and scope: the payout is in the order of $74–105M and was brought on behalf of “hundreds of thousands” of customers for flights between 1 Jan 2020 and 1 Nov 2022, resolving a major COVID-era consumer dispute.

  • Balance-sheet and governance impact: the payment contributes to a larger tally of fines and compensation attributed to Qantas under the current leadership (reports put the cumulative figure near ~$340M), highlighting financial and reputational exposure for airlines responding to large-scale disruptions. See broader Australian sector context here.

  • Legal precedent for airline class actions: this settlement follows a recent trend of litigation-driven payouts in the sector (for example, Air Canada’s class-action settlement), underscoring legal and customer-relations risks from pandemic-era operational policies see related precedent.

Reported By

Reuters aviation.direct Aviation Business News Asian Aviation ch-aviation air-journal.fr
Sources Tracked
19
First Seen
2026-03-12T15:48:48.343546-07:00
Latest Update
2026-03-19T18:12:25.919402-07:00
Coverage
Aviation

Sources

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