Lufthansa fined $4 million for not allowing Jewish passengers on board

Although many of the passengers did not know each other or were not traveling together, passengers interviewed by Transport Department investigators testified that Lufthansa treated them as if they were one group and denied boarding to all of them for several days.the alleged bad behavior of some. Passengers flying from New York to Frankfurt were trying to board a connecting flight to Budapest.

Under the consent order, Lufthansa agreed to pay $2 million, and the Department of Transportation said it would provide a loan to the airline. 2 million dollars, which he paid as compensation to passengers.

Lufthansa did not admit any wrongdoing under the consent decree and He denied that any of his employees discriminated against passengers. Lufthansa said up to 60 passengers on board simultaneously ignored crew instructions.

The airline said it regrets and He has publicly apologized multiple times. in connection with the circumstances of the decision to deny boarding. The airline said the incident “was the result of an unfortunate series of inaccurate communications, misinterpretations and poor judgment throughout the decision-making process,” the Department of Transport said.

Lufthansa said in a statement Tuesday that it has cooperated fully with the Department of Transportation since the 2022 incident and remains focused on many efforts, including partnering with the American Jewish Committee to oversee “a first-of-its-kind training program in the airline industry to ensure our managers and employees could stand up to anti-Semitism and discrimination.” The Department of Transport said the fine is the largest it has ever imposed on an airline for v.violation of civil rights.

“No one should be discriminated against when traveling, and today’s actions send a clear message to the airline industry that we are prepared to investigate and take action whenever passengers’ civil rights are violated,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.