Not allowed on board during the pandemic Lufthansa has to pay record fine for treatment of Jewish passengers

dpa

16.10.2024 - 04:57

Lufthansa rejects the accusation of discrimination. (theme picture)
Lufthansa rejects the accusation of discrimination. (theme picture)
Picture: Keystone/dpa/Andreas Arnold)

Jewish passengers are denied onward travel to Budapest in Frankfurt. Lufthansa regrets the incident but rejects the accusation of discrimination. The USA reacts with a record fine.

No time? blue News summarizes for you

  • Lufthansa has to pay a four million dollar fine in the USA.
  • Employees had prevented 128 Jewish passengers from continuing their journey during the pandemic.
  • The US Department of Transportation sees this as a case of discrimination.
  • According to Lufthansa, the decision was made solely on the basis of safety concerns.

The US Department of Transportation has accused Swiss parent company Lufthansa of discriminating against Jewish passengers in one case and has imposed a fine of 4 million dollars on the company. According to the authorities, this is the highest fine that the Department of Transportation has ever imposed on an airline for civil rights violations.

Specifically, it relates to a flight from Frankfurt to Budapest in May 2022. 128 passengers from New York, most of whom were wearing clothing typical of Orthodox Jewish men, were banned from boarding their connecting flight in Germany due to "alleged misconduct" on the part of a few passengers.

"Although many of the passengers did not know each other and were not traveling together, passengers interviewed by DOT investigators stated that Lufthansa treated them all as a single group and denied them boarding because of the alleged misconduct of a few," the DOT wrote.

Lufthansa: No discrimination

Lufthansa rejects the accusation of discrimination. The company regrets the circumstances that led to the decision to deny boarding to the passengers and has publicly apologized on numerous occasions, the ministry quotes Lufthansa in the decision document. Lufthansa stated that the incident was due to "an unfortunate series of inaccurate messages, misinterpretations and misjudgements throughout the decision-making process".

While this is regrettable, there was no discrimination. According to the airline, the decision was made solely on the basis of safety concerns, as described by the US ministry. The majority of those affected did not wear coronavirus protective masks as required on the flight from New York to Frankfurt, for example.

US Secretary of Transportation: "No one should be discriminated against when traveling"

A statement from the airline, which was made available to the Washington Post, states that Lufthansa has set itself the goal of being "an ambassador of goodwill, tolerance, diversity and acceptance". A "unique training program" had been developed to deal with anti-Semitism and discrimination.

US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said: "No one should be discriminated against when they travel, and today's action sends a clear message to the airline industry that we stand ready to investigate and take action when passengers' civil rights are violated."

dpa