Qantas Accused of Price Fixing ... Who is next?

During my young life I have associated words such as 'cartel' and 'fixing' with oil and cricket. Earlier this week a news report suggested that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) were taking their investigation into Qantas cargo and passenger price fixing to prosecution.

Perhaps this is not all too surprising to Qantas as they have set aside $A64 million to cover this potential liability. This is a prudent move as they have already been fined in the US for the same trans-Pacific trickery ACCC believes has occurred. However, this is not an isolated case in the air transportation industry as British Airways and Korean Air were also fined heavily in 2007 for similar practises. Will more airlines and alliances be exposed?

As a New Zealand air passenger this is a little alarming. Currently Air New Zealand and Qantas operate the majority of domestic air travel which begs the question, "Has Qantas tried to entice Air NZ in similar practises on the trans-Tasman route?" One would have to assume that this simply could not happen because of the governments 76% shareholding. However if price fixing has/is taking place the Labor Government could simply plead ignorance, just as it did in August 2007 when Air NZ ferried Australian forces into Kuwait contrary to government policy.

Maybe more cartels and fixing will be unearthed over the coming years as international institutions and the public call for more transparency throughout our globalised society.