British Airways fined $1.1 million for flight refund delays
British Airways is the latest airline to feel the heat from the US Department of Transportation over delayed customer flight refunds.
BA has been fined $1.1m for not providing ‘timely refunds to passengers’ for cancelled flights during the pandemic.
The DOJ said it logged about 1, 200 complaints about British Airways.
DOJ officials said BA instructed customers to contact it by phone.
Consumers were unable to get through by phone for several months, with the DOJ claiming the airline did not adequately maintain customer service levels.
It failed to upgrade them even though it knew it would be inundated with refund requests.
“There was also no way to submit a refund request through the carrier’s website during this period,” the justice department said.
From March to November 2020, BA allegedly posted misleading information which resulted in customers unwittingly claiming travel vouchers instead of flight refunds.
The airline claimed it ‘acted lawfully at all times.’
The fine is a ‘strong deterrent to future similar unlawful practices’ although it will only pay half.
BA is credited $550,000 towards the penalty as it has refunded $40 million to customers.
“To date, we have issued more than five million refunds since the start of the pandemic,” BA said.
Learn more about : British Airways ( United Kingdom )
TravelMole Editorial Team
Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
Have your say Cancel reply
Subscribe/Login to Travel Mole Newsletter
Travel Mole Newsletter is a subscriber only travel trade news publication. If you are receiving this message, simply enter your email address to sign in or register if you are not. In order to display the B2B travel content that meets your business needs, we need to know who are and what are your business needs. ITR is free to our subscribers.
































France prepares for a massive strike across all transports on September 18
Turkish tourism stalls due to soaring prices for accommodation and food
CCS Insight: eSIMs ready to take the travel world by storm
Germany new European Entry/Exit System limited to a single airport on October 12, 2025
Airlines suspend Madagascar services following unrest and army revolt