The U.S. Department of Transportation has fined German airline Lufthansa $4 million (€3.6 million) for violating the civil rights of over a hundred Jewish passengers—the largest fine ever levied on an airline for such a violation.
In 2022, a total of 128 Jewish passengers were prevented from boarding a flight from Frankfurt to Budapest. The passengers were traveling from New York to Hungary for a memorial event for an Orthodox rabbi, a trip that included a stop in Frankfurt. According to the airline, some individuals had failed to follow instructions from crew members on the first leg of the trip.
The pilot of the first plane reported to Lufthansa security that some passengers, who had a connecting flight out of Frankfurt, were not following crew instructions. The alleged violations included refusal to wear face masks as well as gathering in galleys and by exit rows. The airline later could not identify which individual passengers had failed to abide by what the crew told them. Passengers also stated that they did not observe anybody failing to comply with crew member instructions.
The majority of the affected travelers wore the traditional clothing of Orthodox Jewish men, leading the airline to erroneously believe they were traveling as a group. Lufthansa therefore put a hold on all of their tickets, which prevented them from boarding the connecting flight.
While they all had the same itinerary and destination, most of the Jewish passengers had booked their tickets separately and were not traveling together as a group. Lufthansa, however, judged that “it was not practical to address each passenger separately,” according to the consent order.
The U.S. Department of Transportation said their investigation did not reveal any misbehavior by passengers and pointed out that Lufthansa’s staff “made no meaningful effort to specifically identify and track the individuals who failed to follow crew instructions to abide by the applicable laws and regulations, and to tailor the consequences accordingly.” Therefore, the investigation concluded that
Lufthansa’s treatment of the 128 Jewish passengers as a collective group, based on the alleged misconduct of a smaller number of those individuals, constitutes discrimination based on religion in violation of 49 U.S.C. § 40127.
According to media reports, the airline has already paid $2 million (€1.8 million) in compensation to passengers and will be credited that part of the fine.
