The legal eagle taking on Qantas……………..and a heap of other airlines tells the real story!

As one industry leader who knows him well said to The Mole when I said that later in the day I would be having a chat with Steven Lewis of Slater and Gordon [pictured right], “Airlines who underestimate Steven do so at their peril.”  

“He has heaps of hands on industry experience and has kept his right finger on the industry pulse since he left after a long and successful stint at Jetset, to take up legal practice in the early 1990’s.”  

“Steven is probably the best informed person possible in Australia about legal issues relating to travel.”

It was with that comment resonating in my ear that yesterday I spoke with Steven about the class action he is running against a heap of airlines related to the fuel levy issue and also his views about Qantas, Cathay and Singapore Airlines’ big stick tactics and reaction to the agency groups by telling them to pull out of the action or suffer the consequences.

The no win, no fee lawyer Salter and Gordon web site says about Steven that whether representing individuals, companies or industry groups, what matters most to Steven Lewis remains unchanged, namely “fighting for my clients to get a just result”.

His practice is in commercial litigation and typically sees him involved in complex multi-party litigation representing those with few resources against those with many.

It’s exactly that ethos, he says, which first brought him to Slater & Gordon and “the fact that the firm was not afraid to take on important issues and fight for those who would not otherwise be able to take on powerful opponents”.

A strategic thinker, who is dedicated, and thorough, Steven heads up Slater & Gordon’s commercial litigation team which runs many of the significant class action cases in Australia including, currently, against Telstra, financial planners arising from the Westpoint collapse and Qantas and other airlines over fuel surcharges.

He joined Slater & Gordon in 2006 and his expertise includes Class Actions, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Aviation & Travel Law, Insolvency, Trade Practices, Property & Lease Disputes, Defamation, Land & Environment and Advocacy.

He is currently the firm’s Practice Group Leader and prior to that was with Denes Ebner from 1994 to 2006 and a partner from 1995.

He is a Member of the Election Funding Authority of New South Wales, the Aviation Law Association of Australia and New Zealand and the Law Society of New South Wales and in 1992 was Admitted, High Court of Australia and the Federal Court of Australia and in 1991 to the Supreme Court of New South Wales.  He has a Bachelor of Laws, University of Technology, Sydney, a Diploma In Urban Studies, Macquarie University and a Bachelor of Arts, Macquarie University.

When Steven and I talked about the fuel levy case, I mistakenly said that he probably could not say very much about it as it was sub judice and he immediately told me that was absolutely untrue, saying, “The case is not sub judice at all and I wish that the media and others would stop saying it is.”  “This is a civil case one and is not sub judice.”  “I also wish the other trade media would just get it right.”

He added, “The interesting thing about Class Actions like this is that everyone involved is opted in, unless they opt out and even though Qantas and other carriers are demanding that the major travel agency groups opt out of the action, the Court has not asked for opt outs yet.” 

“They will do, by approving a notice to go out to every group member in the action and then it will be up to each group member to decide if they opt out or if they opt in to the Class Action.”

“They have nothing to lose and everything to gain by opting in because even if the case is lost, costs and damages cannot be awarded against them.”

Speaking about the airlines’ reaction to the Class Action he said, “Qantas, Cathay and Singapore in different ways have tried to influence this Action by demanding or even let’s say threatening the multiples and their members, that if they don’t opt out, all sorts of airline commissions, overides, deals and benefits will be withdrawn, which is not great behaviour, but the actual decision is down to the individual agent and I hope that they will not give in to threats of this nature.”

“Whether the airlines’ behaviour, despicable though it is, breaches the Trade Practices Act is difficult to say at this time, but the next stage in the Class Action will bring all this out and we shall have to wait and see what the Court thinks of their actions.”

“It is great to see that there is no doubt the overwhelming majority in the agency community is backing the Class Action, irrespective of what the airlines and multiples have said or done, threatened or tried to persuade them to do and it is very encouraging to see this happening and its effect, and also that the agent still has a say.”

“I have to say, that I think it is tremendously arrogant of Qantas and the other airlines to think that they can influence an action like this by threatening their distribution chain, the very people who give them business.” 

“Perhaps Qantas has forgotten that 80% of their business still comes through travel agents and those they have established agreements and relationships with.”

“I also think that if Qantas in particular are successful in these threats against the industry and the agencies, which it doesn’t look like they have been or will be, then if we ask ourselves the question, what will the future look like for the industry, the answer is pretty clear.” 

“My view is that the industry will have created an open invitation to be subservient to Qantas and the other carriers and I am sure none of us want that and most certainly it will not benefit the trade or the consumer.”

A special report by The Mole with Steven Lewis of Salter and Gordon