British Airways has been fined $1.1 million (about £878,000) by the US government because of claims the airline failed to pay refunds for cancelled flights during the pandemic.
The US Department of Transportation alleged the airline had not provided “timely refunds to passengers” for abandoned or rescheduled flights to and from the country, reported the BBC.
The department said it had received more than 1,200 complaints about the airline.
However, BA rejected the claims, saying it had “acted lawfully at all times”.
From March to November 2020, BA’s website instructed consumers to contact the carrier by phone to discuss refund options, according to the department.
However, for several months during this period, consumers were unable to get through to customer service agents when calling the carrier and there was no way to submit a refund request through the BA website, added the department.
It also alleged that “misleading” information on BA’s website had led consumers to inadvertently request travel vouchers instead of refunds.
BA will be credited $550,000 towards the penalty because it paid more than $40 million in refunds to customers with non-refundable tickets in 2020 and 2021.
The airline told Travel Weekly: “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.”