Australia's national airline, Qantas Airways, agreed to pay a $66 million fine Monday in addition to compensation to thousands of travelers after a bruising "ghost flights" scandal following accusations it kept selling seats on long-canceled trips.
The country's competition watchdog said Qantas "admitted that it misled consumers" by advertising seats on tens of thousands of flights – despite those flights being canceled.
Qantas will also fork out $13 million in compensation to 86,000 travelers impacted by the cancellations and botched rescheduling, bringing the total lawsuit payout to $79 million.
"Qantas' conduct was egregious and unacceptable," said Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Chairperson Gina Cass-Gottlieb.
"Many consumers will have made holiday, business and travel plans after booking on a phantom flight that had been canceled."
Qantas said that, in some cases, customers were booked on flights that had been canceled "two or more" days prior.
Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson said the airline "let down customers and fell short of our own standards."
"We know many of our customers were affected by our failure to provide cancellation notifications promptly and we are sincerely sorry," she said in a statement.
The $66 million (AU$100 million) fine is subject to court approval.
Long-dubbed the "Spirit of Australia," 103-year-old national carrier Qantas has been working to repair its reputation.
It has faced a consumer backlash stirred up by soaring ticket prices, claims of sloppy service and the sacking of 1,700 ground staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Qantas has previously defended selling seats on canceled flights.
It argued that rather than buying tickets for specific seats, customers buy a "bundle of rights" and a promise the airline will "do its best to get consumers where they want to be on time."
Qantas posted an annual profit of $1.1 billion last year, capping a major financial rebound after the travel turbulence of the COVID-19 years.
Veteran chief executive Alan Joyce announced his early retirement amid a barrage of criticism in September last year.