British Airways has been fined $1.1 million (£878,000) by the US government over claims it failed to pay refunds for canceled flights during the pandemic.
The U.S. Department of Transportation said the airline did not provide “timely refunds to passengers” for flights to and from the country.
It said it had received more than 1,200 complaints about the airline.
BA denied the claims, saying it “acted legally at all times”.
According to the Department for Transport, from March to November 2020, BA’s website directed customers to contact the carrier by phone to discuss refund options, including for flights that the carrier canceled or highlighted. was changed.
However, customers were unable to reach customer service agents when calling the carrier for several months during the period because BA failed to maintain adequate functionality of its customer service phone lines, it said.
“During this period there was also no way to submit a refund request through the carrier’s website,” the department said.
It added that from March to November 2020, misleading information on BA’s website led customers to unwittingly request travel vouchers instead of refunds.
It said that in addition to the 1,200 complaints received by the department, BA received thousands more complaints and refund requests directly from customers.
The department said the failures caused “significant challenges and delays in thousands of consumers receiving the refunds they wanted”.
It added that the fines set “a strong deterrent for similar illegal practices in the future”.
BA will collect $550,000 in fines after it paid more than $40m in refunds to customers with non-refundable tickets in 2020 and 2021.
The airline said: “We deeply regret that at the height of the unprecedented pandemic – when we have unfortunately been forced to cancel thousands of flights and close some call centers due to government restrictions – our customers have been unable to access customer service. Experiencing a slightly longer wait time to arrive.Teams
“During this period, we acted legally at all times and offered customers the flexibility to rebook travel on different dates, or claim refunds if their flights were cancelled.
“So far, we have issued more than five million refunds since the start of the pandemic.”
