Qantas Airways Ltd will have to fork out about $US61 million ($A69.75 million) following a settlement with the United States government over price-fixing involving its freight division.
The airline said it had entered a plea agreement over illegal conduct involving fuel surcharges in the international cargo market between 2000 and 2006.
But Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon signalled there could be further investigations.
“Similar investigations to those being carried out by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) are being undertaken by antitrust regulators in other countries, including Australia,” Mr Dixon said.
“We understand more than 30 other airlines are included in these investigations.”
British Airways and Korean Air Lines have already been heavily fined by the Department of Justice for similar activities, with each airline paying $US300 million ($A343.03 million).
Mr Dixon said Qantas had fully cooperated with investigations.
“These investigations confirmed that the practices adopted by Qantas Freight and the cargo industry generally to fix and impose fuel surcharges breached relevant anti-trust laws,” he said.
He also pointed out that the company’s passenger business was not involved in the price fixing.
“Qantas takes its obligations to comply with the law very seriously,” he said.
“We have a comprehensive competition compliance program in place, and expect all of our employees to comply with these requirements at all times,” he said.
Mr Dixon said four past and two current employees of Qantas Freight had been excluded from the plea agreement and the DOJ had reserved the right to investigate those cases further.
Qantas does not expect the pleas agreement to materially affect its bottom line.
Source: The Age
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November 28, 2007 at 8:24 am