US fines British Airways $1.1m for ‘failing to refund’ Covid cancellations

theguardian.com:

British Airways has been fined $1.1m (£878,000) by the US over claims it failed to pay refunds for cancelled flights during the coronavirus pandemic.

The US Transportation Department said in a legal document the airline did not “provide timely refunds to passengers” for abandoned or rescheduled flights to and from the country in 2020.

British Airways said it had “acted lawfully at all times” after being hit with the fine on Thursday, and rebutted the claims. A consent order from the department read: “From March to November 2020, British Airways’ website instructed consumers to contact the carrier via phone to ‘discuss refund options’, including for flights the carrier cancelled or significantly changed.

“However, consumers were unable to get through to customer service agents when calling the carrier for several months during this period because British Airways failed to maintain adequate functionality of its customer service phone lines. There was also no way to submit a refund request through the carrier’s website during this period.

“Also, from March to November 2020, British Airways had misleading information on its website which led consumers to inadvertently request travel vouchers instead of refunds.

“Since March 2020, the Department has received over 1,200 complaints alleging that British Airways failed to provide timely refunds after cancelling or significantly changing consumers’ flights to or from the United States.

“British Airways has received thousands more complaints and refund requests directly from consumers. British Airways’ failure to establish, for several months, a readily accessible method for consumers to request refunds for flights the carrier cancelled or significantly changed caused significant