The Australian airline Qantas has reached a multi-million dollar settlement with the local Competition and Consumer Commission. At the same time, the company must also pay a fine of 100 million Australian dollars. The reason for this is that last year, over a long period of time, it sold tickets for flights even though it knew that they would not take place. This not only brought the carrier a lawsuit from the consumer protection agency, but also cost long-time company boss Alan Joyce his job. Now Qantas is being asked to pay and, in addition to a fine, must also financially compensate the affected customers. After months of discussions, the Qantas Group announced last week that it had reached an agreement with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to settle the legal disputes related to the flight cancellation scandal. Under the terms of the agreement, Qantas will make compensation payments totalling A$20 million (US$13,2 million) to affected passengers and pay a civil penalty of A$100 million (US$66 million), subject to approval by the Federal Court of Australia. Today's statement is in stark contrast to what Qantas said when it filed its defence in October. At the time, the company acknowledged mistakes but stressed that the ACCC's claim ignores the realities of the aviation industry - airlines cannot guarantee specific flight times. It added that all customers of cancelled flights were offered an alternative flight or a refund and there was no "fee for services not provided". In a statement, Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson acknowledged the company's wrongdoing.