Beers on EWL tonight?!
Qantas faces payback of commissions
September 3, 2010 - 4:26PM
Qantas Airways may be forced to pay back millions of dollars in commissions to travel agents after it failed in a bid to overturn a Federal Court ruling.
The High Court today dismissed an application by the national carrier to challenge a May 4 Federal Court ruling relating to commissions on fuel surcharges.
The Federal Court had found in favour of Leonie’s Travel Pty Ltd, representing travel agents who sold tickets on behalf of Qantas, which was appealing an earlier Federal Court ruling that Qantas was entitled to exclude fuel surcharges when calculating commissions paid to agents on international tickets.
The court found the commission was payable on international tickets from May 2004 and ordered Qantas account for the money it received from the surcharge and pass onto the travel agents their ‘‘underpaid commission’’.
In evidence to the Federal Court, Qantas said the cost of paying the commissions on fuel surcharges up to 2007 would be more than $26 million.
That figure would have increased considerably over the past four years, said Steven Lewis from the law firm Slater and Gordon, which represented Leonie’s Travel.
‘‘Qantas has had its day in court and its excuses for not paying the commission have been rejected by the court,’’ Mr Lewis said in a statement.
‘‘The mum and dad travel agents, which make up the bulk of our clients, now need to be paid what they are owed and allowed to get on with their businesses.’’
The case will now return to the original judge who will calculate the amount payable by Qantas to the travel agents.
Comment was being sought from Qantas.