Flight Centre Downplays ACCC's Charge of Price-Fixing
Global travel agency operator Flight Centre has rejected allegations that it attempted to arrange price fixing deals with specific airlines, calling the charges filed last week by government regulators as 'stupid'.
The Australian reported on Monday that Flight Centre managing director Graham Turner branded the case filed by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) against the firm as trumped-up charges.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Turner maintained that Flight Centre was not guilty of any wrongdoing and the competition watchdog would end up squandering taxpayers' money in pursuing the case.
He reckoned that for the case to be allowed to take its full course, at least five years would be required, hinting that the whole exercise would also lead to waste of time for both the agency and the travel firm, which according to Agence France Presse (AFP) operates on 11 countries and maintains more than 2000 offices worldwide.
On Friday last week, the ACCC lodged its lawsuit against Flight Centre before the Federal Court in Brisbane, alleging that in six occasions from 2005 to 2008 the travel firm tried to convince three airlines into stopping their commercial bookings outside of the Flight Centre system.
"It is alleged that the purpose and likely effect of the arrangements sought by Flight Centre was to maintain the level of Flight Centre's commissions," the ACCC said in a statement that it issued following the filing of the case.
In maintaining its considerable commission shares, Flight Centre has been working to dominate flight bookings of the three concerned airlines, including their online and behind-the-counter bookings, the watchdog said.
The ACCC identified the airlines as Singapore Airlines, Malaysia Airlines and Emirates, all of which have yet to air to air their official statement on the matter.
Turner, however, is confident that the ACCC charges would amount to nothing and offered that the agency might be pursuing a test case, with Flight Centre picked out as the unfortunate subject.
"We don't know what are the motives of the ACCC. Perhaps it's a test case under the Trade Practices Act," Turner said.
As a travel agency that has been in existence for more than three decades, Turner explained that Flight Centre has mustered enough clout and network to offer passengers the best if not the cheapest airline travelling packages.
He remains upbeat that the company will not be affected by the ACCC case, insisting that the price fixing charges will only prove as a form of an inconvenience.
"We are big enough to take it and will fight these charges very vigorously and we are very confident of winning," the Flight Centre chief said.
Flight Centre, Turner said, has an existing business dealing with the three airlines mentioned in the ACCC charges, which he admitted gave the company preferred access to airfares offered by the airlines.
"This is a logical and natural business request for an agent to make sure customers are not disadvantaged," Turner stressed.
In the end, Flight Centre will come out as the victor in the case, Turner declared, asserting too: "I am absolutely confident we will win the case and show our customers that we will always have the lowest price for any airline ticket."