A class action lawsuit has been filed against Australia’s Jetstar Airways, owned by Qantas, allegedly for not refunding customers over cancelled flights during the COVID pandemic.
Echo Law, the legal firm that filed the suit Wednesday, claimed even though the airline was obliged to refund the money, it gave travel credits to customers between 2020 and 2022, 9News reported.
The credits were of lower value and subject to restrictions, not what the customers had signed up for.
Customers are entitled to refunds and compensation even if they have used their credits. The legal argument is that the use of travel credits were not transparent or in line with contractual terms while purchasing tickets.
Echo stated the airline placed “profit ahead of the customers’ interests,” reported The Guardian.
“Jetstar customers were pushed into holding hundreds of millions of dollars in restricted travel credits, even though this wasn’t what those customers had agreed to as part of the airline’s terms and conditions,” Echo partner Andrew Paull said. “The right thing for Jetstar to do when it cancelled all those flights was to return its customers’ money without delay.”
Jetstar breached consumer law as it engaged in a “system or pattern of unconscionable conduct.” The airline company benefitted financially from the payment made by customers, Echo claimed.
“It now needs to be held accountable and refund that money with interest,” Paull said. “While customers sat at home not able to enjoy the benefits of flying, Jetstar enjoyed the significant financial benefits of holding hundreds of millions of dollars in customer payments, including interest and reduced borrowing costs.”
Jetstar, meanwhile, responded that they were reviewing the legal claims. The company removed expiry dates for COVID vouchers last year.
“These vouchers are also multi use, meaning they can be used across multiple bookings and for multiple people,” a Jetstar spokesperson said.
Echo is fighting a separate lawsuit, filed in 2023, against Qantas over its COVID credits program.
