Jetstar's 80/20 rule
Court filings reveal the Qantas board's targets for Covid refunds.
Just how hard did Qantas and its budget subsidiary Jetstar work to prevent customers from getting a cash refund for their tickets cancelled during the Covid era?
Very, according to new court documents.
The documents, part of a class action lawsuit brought on behalf of Jetstar customers denied a refund for flights cancelled between 2020 and 2022, provide the first ever window into Qantas' internal machinations as the company worked to minimise the money it returned to customers who never got to fly.
They show the Qantas board was kept updated on an internal target to stop about 80 per cent of cancellations being redeemed for cash, and that executives within Jetstar were well aware this attracted legal risk because Australian Consumer Law entitles people to a refund when they've paid for something they didn't get.
Jetstar's efforts included making it easier to claim a credit while at the same time making sure there wasn't a link to the refund request form in emails to customers because, in the words of one executive, that "could be quite expensive".
