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8 March, 2023

Qantas cops warning after becoming the most complained about airline

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) received more complaints about Qantas than any other individual airline in 2021-22, prompting the watchdog to warn the airline.

The ACCC said 1740 “contacts” were made about Qantas in the 2021-22 financial year, up 68 per cent from the previous year.

This figure came as Qantas struggled with mishandled bags, the administration of travel credits and flight delays and cancellations.

In comparison, Virgin Australia received 359 complaints during this period, while Jetstar copped 544.

A “contact” does not necessarily mean there was a breach of law, the ACCC said, but the increased amount of contacts indicated a higher level of dissatisfaction with the company.

“As Australia’s largest airline, and an airline that generally charges a premium to fly, consumers expect a better service,” the ACCC report said.

“Qantas needs to do more to adequately invest in its systems, processes and people to dramatically improve its customer contact services and customer dispute resolution.”

A Qantas spokesperson acknowledged that the airline wasn’t at its peak during this period and apologised to its customers.

“Since then, thanks to hard work from people across our business, things have improved and we are getting Qantas back to its best,” said the spokesman.

“We’ve been the most on-time of the major domestic airlines for five months in a row and our service levels across bags, cancellations and call centres are back to similar or better levels than pre-COVID.

“We’ve also made significant progress to speed up our refund processes and made it easier for customers to use their flight credits.”

The report highlighted that fuel prices were not an excuse for increased airfares, with the cost of fuel dropping 35 per cent since mid-2022. But Qanats CEO Alan Joyce noted a “65 per cent increase in fuel prices” as the reason for current prices.

ACCC commissioner Anna Brakey claimed the price of aviation fuel had been falling since the 2022 peak due to the Ukraine war.

“The price of jet fuel has been trending down which should enable airlines to reduce airfares further in coming months,” Brakey said.

The report also showed overall airfares have dropped 13 per cent since December 2022, but are still 13 per cent above pre-pandemic levels.

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