The end of last week saw Qantas exhaust its last ditch attempt in the fuel surcharge commission saga with industry insiders tell me, not surprisingly that the head honchos at Qantas are not at all happy with the result.

With the High Court dismissing on Friday the application by Qantas challenging the Federal Court ruling made a few months ago that Qantas had to comply with IATA Passenger Sales Agency Agreement that commission was payable on fuel surcharges, not only is Qantas facing massive legal bills, it is now having to finally assess through the Federal Court, the amount of commission it owes agents, thought to be around $A25m, with it appears the time to pay up looming ever closer!

The legal eagle behind the agents side of the case, Slater & Gordon's Steven Lewis has said that Qantas has had its day in court with the court finally and unequivocally rejecting Qantas’ excuses for not paying the commission in the first place.

What will be interesting is whether the commission will ever be paid to the major agency groups who are largely very close to Qantas or will a deal behind closed doors be done – who knows!

What’s clear though is if Qantas had paid the commission in the first place it would have cost them and its shareholders a great deal less!

Industry Insider Commentary and Opinion by e-Travel Blackboard’s Special Correspondent John Alwyn-Jones