A class action against Jetstar has been lodged in the Federal Court on behalf of the customers whose flights were cancelled during the COVID pandemic.
The suit is headed by Echo Law and mirrors its $1b lawsuit against Qantas for similar allegations.
According to Echo Law, Jetstar did not refund money to paying customers despite legal obligations to do so.
“Jetstar promotes itself as a values-driven, low fare airline committed to helping ‘more people fly, more often’, yet it’s a highly profitable part of the Qantas Group, and when COVID caused widespread flight cancellations it put those profits ahead of its customers’ interests,” Echo Law partner Andrew Paull said.
“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.
“The right thing for Jetstar to do when it cancelled all those flights was to return its customers’ money without delay.”
Echo Law’s class action against Qantas is ongoing.
In August last year, the national carrier removed the expiry date on COVID travel credits and offered a cash refund.
At the time, we reported that Jetstar customers could use credits for flights, indefinitely.
Echo Law alleges Jetstar customers paid more than their original booking to use credits on new fares under the impression it was the only way to recoup some of what they paid for.
Both class actions are seeking refunds and compensation for customers.
“It held onto ordinary Australian’s money and expected customers to just be happy with credits, which we allege it was not entitled to do,” Paull continued.
“It now needs to be held accountable and refund that money with interest.”
Source TravelWeekly
