The US has slapped Lufthansa with a record fine of $4 million after the airline banned Jewish passengers from 2022 flights because some allegedly refused to comply with regulations requiring the wearing of masks.
The Department of Transport said Lufthansa discriminated against passengers, treating them “as if they were a single group”, even though many were not traveling together and did not know each other.
They said this is the largest fine they have ever issued to an airline for civil rights violations.
Lufthansa said in the consent order that it agreed to pay to avoid litigation but denied discrimination, blaming the incident on “a series of unfortunate miscommunications.”
“Lufthansa has always strived to be an ambassador of goodwill, tolerance, diversity and acceptance,” the company said in a statement, adding that it had cooperated with the investigation and remains focused on training its employees.
The episode concerns passengers traveling from New York to Budapest, connecting in Frankfurt, in May 2022.
According to the DOT, many of the passengers were male, wearing “distinctive clothing commonly worn by Orthodox Jewish men” and had used the same travel agencies to book their tickets.
During the first flight, the captain warned Lufthansa security that some passengers had not followed the crew’s instructions regarding the requirement to wear masks and prohibiting gatherings in the aisles and other places on the flight. plane.
The warning resulted in the tickets being held for more than 100 passengers, all of whom were Jewish, resulting in them being blocked from connecting flights.
The DOT said Lufthansa acknowledged that the action would also harm those who had complied with the guidance but “concluded that it is impractical to address each passenger individually.”
The majority were rebooked on other flights the same day.
“No one should face discrimination when traveling, and today’s action sends a clear message to the airline industry that we are ready to investigate and take action,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. take action whenever a passenger’s civil rights are violated.”
The DOT said passengers interviewed for the investigation said they had not witnessed any misconduct, and Lufthansa did not subsequently identify any passengers who did not comply with the rules.
But in the consent order, Lufthansa said its staff could not single out the passengers because “the violations were so numerous, the misconduct continued during many parts of the flight and at different periods of time.” and the passenger changed seats during the flight.”
The DOT said it ordered Lufthansa to pay $2 million and would give the airline a credit for the $2 million it paid to passengers as part of the legal settlement.
