The US government said that British Airways has been fined $1.1m (£878,000) by the US government as it failed to pay refunds for cancelled flights during the pandemic. The US Department of Transportation said the airline had not provided "timely refunds to passengers" for abandoned or rescheduled flights to and from the country.
It said it had received more than 1,200 complaints about the airline. BA rejected the claims, saying it had "acted lawfully at all times". According to the transport department, from March to November 2020, BA's website instructed consumers to contact the carrier by phone to discuss refund options, including for flights the carrier had cancelled or significantly changed.
However, consumers were unable to get through to customer service agents when calling the carrier for several months during this period because BA failed to maintain adequate functionality of its customer service phone lines , it said.
"There was also no way to submit a refund request through the carrier's website during this period," the department said. It added that from March to November 2020, misleading information on BA's website had led consumers to inadvertently request travel vouchers instead of refunds.