AFP, WASHINGTON
US authorities have hit Lufthansa with a record US$4 million penalty after finding the airline discriminated against more than 100 Jewish travelers by blocking them from boarding a flight in 2022, officials said on Tuesday.
The 128 passengers were denied boarding to a connecting flight after a few did not follow instructions, including anti-COVID-19 mask requirements, on a flight from the US to Germany, US transport authorities said.
The airline did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
People wait at a Lufthansa check-in at Leonardo da Vinci International Airport in Fiumicino, Italy, on Sept. 23.
Photo: Reuters
The US Department of Transportation said the penalty over the boarding refusal on May 3, 2022, in Frankfurt, Germany, was the largest it had issued for a civil rights violation.
The travelers — who wore distinctive garments like black hats and jackets — told investigators they were treated as if they were one group even though many were not flying together and did not know each other.
Lufthansa denied boarding “to everyone for the apparent misbehavior of a few, because they were openly and visibly Jewish,” department authorities said in a filing.
The problem began when the captain of the first flight reported to Lufthansa security that some passengers were not following rules, including wearing face masks during the trip and not standing in groups in aisles or near emergency exits.
Department authorities received more than 40 discrimination complaints from Jewish passengers in this case.
Lufthansa told the department that it has publicly apologized on numerous occasions for barring the passengers from continuing their trips, but denied any suggestion that any of its employees engaged in any form of discrimination.
