The US government fined British Airways $1.1m (£878,000) for allegedly failing to reimburse passengers for cancelled flights during the pandemic.
The airline was accused by the US Department of Transportation of failing to give "timely refunds to passengers" for cancelled or rescheduled flights into and out of the nation.
More than 1,200 complaints about the airline, it claimed, had been made.
Asserting that it had "acted lawfully at all times," BA rejected the allegations.
The transport department claims that from March to November 2020, BA's website gave customers phone contact information and instructions to inquire about refund options, including for flights the carrier had canceled or significantly changed.
Customers were unable to reach customer service representatives when calling the carrier for several months during this time, according to the statement, as BA failed to maintain adequate functionality of its customer service phone lines.
Additionally, the carrier's website was unavailable during this time, according to the department.
It also noted that from March to November 2020, false information on BA's website had misled customers into mistakenly asking for travel vouchers rather than refunds.
It stated that in addition to the 1,200 complaints the department had received, BA had also directly received tens of thousands of consumer complaints and requests for refunds.
The failures, according to the department, "caused significant challenges and delays in thousands of consumers receiving required refunds.".
The sentence also created a "strong deterrent to subsequent similar unlawful practices.".
Due to the fact that BA refunded non-refundable ticket holders more than $40 million in 2020 and 2021, it will be given a $550,000 credit toward the fine.
The airline expressed regret that customers had to wait a little longer to reach customer service teams during the height of the unprecedented pandemic, when it was unfortunate that thousands of flights had to be canceled and some call centers had to close because of government regulations.
"During this time, we operated legally at all times and gave customers the option to change their travel plans or request a refund in the event that their flights were canceled.
"Since the pandemic began, we have so far given out more than five million refunds.
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