Qantas complaints rise by 70 per cent, as ACCC calls on carriers to reduce fares

The price of domestic airfares has fallen since hitting a 15-year high in December but they are still more expensive than pre-pandemic levels, according to the consumer watchdog’s latest airline competition report, which also revealed a record number of complaints about Australia’s biggest carrier.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s quarterly report showed it was contacted 1780 times about Qantas over the 2022 financial year, more than any other airline over the period.

The number of complaints rose 68 per cent in the 2022 financial year, a period marred by staff shortages and supply chain issues, which led to mishandled bags, delays and cancelled flights across the sector. Qantas also dealt with a complicated roll-out of COVID-19 travel credits, causing frustration for consumers.

“As Australia’s largest airline and an airline that generally charges a premium to fly, customers expect a better service,” the 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 its operational performance slumped over the period, but said all metrics had returned to meeting or exceeding pre-pandemic levels as the carrier adjusted to the rapid demand for flying after the COVID-19 pandemic.

It also said it had made significant progress to speed up its refund and flight credit process. As it stands, there are about $800 million in unused flight credits accrued during the last two years of COVID-19 restrictions.

“We know there were times last year when we didn’t perform at our best. We apologised to customers and promised to fix it,” the spokesperson said. “And since then, thanks to hard work from people across our business, things have improved and we are getting Qantas back to its best.

“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.”