Lufthansa plane parked on the tarmac at Frankfurt Airport in Germany.
Ralph Orlovsky | Reuters
Germany’s flagship airline has been fined $4 million by the U.S. Department of Transportation for discriminating against a group of Jewish passengers.
In May 2022, Lufthansa banned 128 passengers wearing traditional Orthodox Jewish clothing from a connecting flight in Germany from New York to Budapest, the regulator said on Tuesday.
“Following allegations of misconduct by some passengers, Lufthansa staff treated them all as a group and denied boarding,” the transport ministry said, even though many of the passengers did not know each other and had not traveled together.
some people in the group Suspected of violating airline mask policy. Video of the incident shows Lufthansa staff telling passengers that “everyone has to pay for the mistakes of a few,” before defining “everyone” as “Jews from JFK.” At the time, German media reported that staff were refusing to let people they believed to be Jewish board the plane because they were wearing skullcaps or side-swept hair.
It is the largest fine ever issued by the Department of Transportation for civil rights violations by an airline.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement: “No one should be discriminated against while traveling, and today’s action sends a clear message to the airline industry that whenever a passenger’s civil rights are violated, we will Be prepared to investigate and take action.
Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, Biden Administration’s Special Envoy on Anti-Semitism, told NBC News in 2022 The detail with which airlines treat passengers is “unbelievable”.
“(When) I first heard the news, I said, ‘Oh, this must be wrong. Someone must have made a false alarm.'” Of course, it turns out it’s completely true — and better than we thought. It’s even worse,” she said.
The airline said in a statement Tuesday that it cooperated fully with the Department of Transportation’s investigation during the investigation and cooperated with the American Jewish Committee following the incident.
“Through our ongoing collaboration, we have planned the first training program of its kind in the aviation industry for our managers and employees to address anti-Semitism and discrimination,” the statement read. “Lufthansa is committed to being a kind, tolerant airline , ambassador of diversity and acceptance.”
At that time, operators Apologized In response to the incident, it said it had “zero tolerance for racism, anti-Semitism and discrimination of any kind.”
“It would be outrageous if any airline did this,” Lipstadt said in 2022. “But the terrible irony coming from Germany’s national carrier is outrageous.”
