Qantas has agreed to pay a A$100 million ($66.2 million) civil penalty and A$20 million to passengers for selling tens of thousands of tickets on flights it had already decided to cancel. The airline has agreed the penalty and remediation programme for affected passengers with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), which is subject to approval by Australia's Federal Court. Qantas admits that more than 86,000 passengers made bookings on flights two or more days after they had been cancelled and will be eligible for payments of A$250 for domestic and transtasman flights, and A$450 for other international bookings. "We know many of our customers were affected by our failure to provide cancellation notifications in a timely manner and we are sincerely sorry. The return to travelling was already stressful for many and we did not deliver enough support for customers and did not have the technology and systems in place to support our people," says Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson. "We have since updated our processes and are investing in new technology across the Qantas Group to ensure this doesn’t happen again." The settlement is a major win for the ACCC, which launched the Federal Court action in August 2023, alleging that between May 2021 and July 2022 the carrier advertised tickets for more than 8,000 cancelled flights. The regulator also alleged that it failed to communicate to customers booked on 10,000 flights scheduled to operate between May and July 2022 that their flights had been cancelled. Qantas has admitted that it misled customers as part of the settlement. "We are pleased to have secured these admissions by Qantas that it misled its customers, and its agreement that a very significant penalty is required as a result of this conduct. The size of this proposed penalty is an important milestone in enforcing the Australian Consumer Law," says ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb.

Boeing has closed an offering of $10 billion in aggregate principal amount of fixed-rate senior unsecured notes. The offering consists of $1 billion aggregate principal amount of its 6.259% senior notes due 2027, $1.5 billion of its 6.298% senior notes due 2029, $1 billion of its 6.388% senior notes due 2031, $2.5 billion of its 6.528% senior notes due 2034, $2.5 billion of its 6.858% senior notes due 2054 and $1.5 billion of its 7.008% senior notes due 2064. Proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, states the US airframer.

Southwest Airlines chief legal and regulatory officer and corporate secretary Mark Shaw is departing his role on 1 June, when he begins serving the US carrier as an executive adviser. He will be succeeded by chief corporate affairs officer Jason Van Eaton, whose new title will be chief regulatory and corporate affairs officer. Shaw joined Southwest nearly 24 years ago, notes the Dallas-based carrier. "As Jason and Jeff step into their new roles, the proven expertise and extensive experience they each possess, along with Mark's continued guidance, will result in a seamless and successful transition," states Southwest chief executive Bob Jordan.