Qantas

Two law firms running competing class actions against Qantas over flight cancellations during the COVID-19 pandemic have agreed to cooperate after a judge took them to task for revising their funding positions in the lead up to a courtroom battle.

A judge has admonished the Transport Workers Union for relying on test cases to decide compensation for 1,700 ground crew who were sacked during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying it should instead bring a class action.

Qantas has hit back the ACCC’s argument that the airline failed to respond to key allegations in its ‘ghost flights’ case, telling the court it’s the regulator’s job to particularise its claims.

The ACCC has raised concerns over Qantas’ alleged failure to respond to claims in a blockbuster case against the airline over the sale of tickets on cancelled flights.

Qantas has hit back at the ACCC’s case alleging it sold thousands of tickets on cancelled flights for commercial gain, saying airlines cannot guarantee flights will run as planned.

Qantas has again conceded defeat in the face of opposition by the ACCC, this time bowing out of a joint coordination agreement with China Eastern Airlines.

Qantas has dropped its bid to acquire Brisbane-based regional airline Alliance Aviation Services, saying a court battle with the competition regulator would be complex and costly.

A second law firm is likely to throw its hat in the ring to run a competing class action against Qantas over flight cancellations in the COVID-19 pandemic, but a judge has made orders trying to side-step a carriage fight, criticising them as “wasteful and expensive”. 

A former Qantas worker looks set to appeal a judgment that found she can’t undo a $75,000 settlement in a workers compensation claim in order to pursue a discrimination suit against the airline.

A judge has asked why the union representing Qantas workers did not bring a class action on behalf of 1,700 ground crew who were sacked during the COVID-19 pandemic, as he ordered the airline’s new CEO to attend settlement talks after losing its High Court appeal.