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British Airways has been fined over one million dollars by the US government over claims that it failed to pay refunds for cancelled flights. The US Transportation Department said in a legal

document that the airline did not “provide timely refunds to passengers” for abandoned or rescheduled flights to and from the country during the coronavirus pandemic. BA said it had “acted

lawfully at all times” after being hit with the $1.1m (£878,000) fine and refuted the claims. A consent order from the department read: “From March to November 2020, British Airways’ website

instructed consumers to contact the carrier via phone to ‘discuss refund options’, including for flights the carrier 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 British Airways failed to maintain adequate functionality of its customer

service phone lines. READ MORE: BA CUSTOMER TAKES ON AIRLINE AND WINS VOUCHERS COURT BATTLE “There was also no way to submit a refund request through the carrier’s website during this

period. “Also, from March to November 2020, British Airways had misleading information on its website which led consumers to inadvertently request travel vouchers instead of refunds. “Since

March 2020, the Department has received over 1,200 complaints alleging that British Airways failed to provide timely refunds after cancelling or significantly changing consumers’ flights to

or from the United States. “British Airways has received thousands more complaints and refund requests directly from consumers. “British Airways’ failure to establish, for several months, a

readily accessible method for consumers to request refunds for flights the carrier cancelled or significantly changed caused significant challenges and delays in thousands of consumers

receiving required refunds.” The department said the fine “establishes a strong deterrent to future similar unlawful practices”. BA is being credited just under $550,000 (£439,000) towards

the penalty because in 2020 and 2021 it paid more than $40m (£31.9m) in refunds to customers with non-refundable tickets. The airline said: “We’re very sorry that at the height of the

unprecedented pandemic – when we were unfortunately forced to cancel thousands of flights and close some call centres due to government restrictions – our customers experienced slightly

longer wait times to reach customer service teams. “During this period, we acted lawfully at all times and offered customers the flexibility of rebooking travel on different dates, or

claiming a refund if their flights were cancelled. “To date, we have issued more than five million refunds since the start of the pandemic.”