Qantas compensates stranded passengers with free tickets

Qantas is still paying the bills for its two-day shut-down of operations. It has now announced its intention to present 100,000 tickets, worth $20 million, free of cost to passengers affected by the grounding of its services on 29 October. This would be its way of apologising to affected passengers.

Tens of thousands of people were stranded in Australia and around the world when the airline grounded all flights for two days, in a bid to upstage striking unions.

It succeeded spectacularly but at the cost of leaving thousands of passengers stranded at the airports, including some heads of state that were to depart after attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meet (CHOGM).

Services have since returned to normal after an industrial tribunal terminated all industrial action between the airline and unions and ordered them back to the negotiating table for compulsory arbitration.

According to Qantas, all passengers whose flights were disrupted in the stoppage from 5pm on 29 October to 11.59pm on 31 October will be offered a free return economy flight to any destination within Australia, or a trans-Tasman flight to New Zealand and back.

Chief executive Alan Joyce said the carrier would also offer a bonus to all frequent flyers.