$40 million fine for Qantas??

[Pedota]

Qantas sets aside $40 million to cover possible US DOJ price-fixing fine
Airline Transport World
Tuesday August 14, 2007


Qantas has set aside $40 million "to cover a potential fine that may be imposed" by the US Dept. of Justice as part of the international investigation into price-fixing.

The carrier previously admitted it is under investigation in multiple jurisdictions regarding "price-fixing in the air cargo market" related to surcharges. "These investigations revealed that the practice adopted by Qantas Freight and the cargo industry generally to fix and impose fuel surcharges was likely to have breached relevant competition laws," CEO Geoff Dixon said yesterday. "To date, it has not been possible to quantify any direct or indirect liability associated with these matters." He conceded that a "small number" of QF employees engaged in "unacceptable conduct" that made it possible the airline would have to pay fines.

Dixon explained that QF decided to put the money aside following guilty pleas earlier this month by British Airways and Korean Air related to price-fixing on fares and surcharges on both passenger and cargo flights. Those pleas led to the imposition of a combined $800 million in fines by DOJ and, in the case of BA, also by the UK Office of Fair Trading (ATWOnline, Aug. 2).

"At this stage, it is too early to make a reliable estimate of possible fines in [jurisdictions other than the US] or of possible liability to third parties under class actions," Dixon said. "We expect these amounts will be known over the next two years." He said Qantas had investigated the matter thoroughly and was "confident" the misconduct was "limited" to a small group of employees.

by Aaron Karp

[roamingwolf]

so the yanks that are flicking through the internet see this article and go 'ok well let's fine them $40 mill'.is this like a plea bargain,you admit your guilty as sin and cop a smaller fine.
and does this mean that dixon or somebody else who gave this idea the nod will lose there bonus

[stubby jumbo]

You can bet that Dixon will have his "team" at BDW crawling all over this.

....................and as for the "buffoon(s) who "stuffed up" in Freight=GONE-SKI'S !!!

This must of really pissed off Dixon in his "golden week" to have the spot light on him prematurely must really hurt and to infer that there is a stench around it !!!! ( I would of loved to have been a fly on the wall in the bunker when this story broke)


ITS CALLED KARMA..............BUDDY.

HASTA LA VISTA BEBY.

[Orville]

Dixon must start to accept responsibility for poor management one day,

The choice of the delayed 380
The down grading of engineering
The poor response from managers re overseas maint. debacle.
The failed sale of Qantas
And now fraud.
WHO IS RUNNUNG THIS COMPANY, and why are they allowed to continue.

[Orville]

So instead of $40 million it should be something like $400 million

[lowerlobe]

These guys must have been watching too much TV.

As in the Mission Impossible intro's where it said" If you or any of your team are caught the Secretary would "disavow any knowledge of your actions"...

Substitute 'secretary' with 'Darth' and you have complete deniability and Darth escapes yet again.

When though, as others have said does Darth take the responsibility for that which he is paid?

[Orville]

There is a big difference here, to all the other mis- managed events. This time it is criminal fraud and it is the reason that big companies have directors. They are ultimately reasponsible when the company does something illegal ( not immoral because they are experts at that) they often say that is one of the reasons they command such high salaries because of the financial risk of being a director.

Perhaps the fine could be levied at the directors and the investors get a break this time

[mmciau]

A cynical view!!

Senior management are there to "line their pocket"

and

keep the shareholders at bay by paying a dividend.

Mike

[B A Lert]

The prefix "US" has been omitted from the kind of dollars that Dixon has set aside. With the Aussie sliding the way it is, I betcha the Qantas spin doctors do nothing to put the record straight.

Were the auditors and management asleep while this happened? Dixon today reckoned those responsible are no longer with Qantas but what about their management? Of those who departed, I wonder how many left with a package rather than simple their statutory entitlements? If they did receive the package, can anything be done to recover it or take action against the sinners in view of what is now known?

[Pedota]

Assuming the fine is real . . . US40 million will cost about 3,800 Melbourne – Los Angles business class return fares or about 20,000 economy fares. That is a lot of flying for no return - someone should accept responsibility for this ‘disaster’.

[Based on today’s exchange rate and flying next January]

[QFinsider]

So all that BS about saving fuel resulted in $60million saved..These wankers indulge in fraud and "put aside" $40million....

Where is bloody ASIC????

Fiduciary duty...Dixon doesn't know the word. HE is responsible.

Hello ASIC!