The United States (US) Department of Transportation (DOT) announced that Germany’s biggest airline, Lufthansa, has been fined a whopping four million dollars (3.676 million Euros) The fine occurred because of an incident in May of 2022 when 123 Jewish passengers were prevented from boarding a plane.
The passengers wore ‘distinctive garb worn by Orthodox Jews’
The DOT statement posted via its governmental website said, “Based on the alleged misconduct of some passengers, Lufthansa prohibited 128 Jewish passengers—most of whom wore distinctive garb typically worn by Orthodox Jewish men—from boarding their connecting flight in Germany. Despite many of the passengers not knowing each other nor travelling together, passengers interviewed by DOT investigators stated that Lufthansa treated them all as if they were a single group and denied them boarding for the alleged misbehaviour of a few.”
Other passengers were inconvenienced
The flight in question left New York for Frankfurt, Germany, where the passengers were then due to board a connecting flight to their final destination of Budapest. Lufthansa detailed in the consent order that on the flight from New York to Frankfurt “60 passengers onboard repeatedly disregarded safety and public announcements from flight attendants and the flight deck.” The crew also said that some passengers obstructed flight attendants in economy class from carrying out its on-board food and beverage service, inconvenienced other passengers, and argued with the crew about wearing masks.
The largest fine given for civil rights violations
The fine issued by DOT to the German airline is the biggest fine they had ever issued for civil rights violations. U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said, “No one should face discrimination when they travel, and today’s action sends a clear message to the airline industry that we are prepared to investigate and take action whenever passengers’ civil rights are violated.” Lufthansa stated in a press release the “incident resulted from an unfortunate series of inaccurate communications, misinterpretations, and misjudgments throughout the decision-making process, and that these actions, although regrettable, do not support any finding of discrimination and the department’s findings in this case.”
Lufthansa to focus on training staff
The DOT said passengers interviewed for the investigation said they had not witnessed misbehaviour and Lufthansa had failed to identify any single passenger who had not followed the rules. Also in their press release, a spokesman for Lufthansa said “Lufthansa is dedicated to being an ambassador of goodwill, tolerance, diversity, and acceptance.” They also stated they had “cooperated with the investigation and remained focused on training for its staff.”
