British Airways has been fined $1.1 million (£878,000) by the US government for allegedly failing to provide timely refunds to passengers whose flights were canceled during the pandemic.
The US Department of Transportation reported that the airline received over 1,200 complaints regarding this issue.
According to the department, between March and November 2020, British Airways’ website instructed customers to contact the airline by phone to discuss refund options for canceled or significantly changed flights.
However, customers faced difficulties in reaching customer service agents as the airline failed to maintain proper functionality of its phone lines for several months during this period.
British Airways has disputed these allegations, stating that it has always acted lawfully.
“There was also no way to submit a refund request through the carrier’s website during this period,” the department said.
It added that from March to November 2020, misleading information on BA’s website had led consumers to inadvertently request travel vouchers instead of refunds.
It said that along with the 1,200 complaints received by the department, BA had received thousands more complaints and refund requests directly from consumers.
The department said the failures had “caused significant challenges and delays in thousands of consumers receiving required refunds”.
It added that the fine established a “strong deterrent to future similar unlawful practices”.
BA will be credited $550,000 towards the penalty because it paid more than $40m in refunds to customers with non-refundable tickets in 2020 and 2021.
The airline said: “We’re very sorry that at the height of the unprecedented pandemic – when we were unfortunately forced to cancel thousands of flights and close some call centres due to government restrictions – our customers experienced slightly longer wait times to reach customer service teams.
“During this period, we acted lawfully at all times and offered customers the flexibility of rebooking travel on different dates, or claiming a refund if their flights were cancelled.
“To date, we have issued more than five million refunds since the start of the pandemic.”