Lufthansa has been accused of discrimination against a large group of Jewish travelers, including a mass ethnic-based flight ban for the mask violations of a handful of passengers. What actually happened onboard LH401? Did Lufthansa really target Jews for denied boarding on the basis of their appearance instead of their individual behavior?
Lufthansa Accused Of Discrimination Against Jewish Travelers
Timeline
This story has been documented in extreme deal by DansDeals. I would encourage you to check out Dan’s investigation if you really want to understand every detail from the perspective of multiple passengers. However, here is a condensed version:
- The incident occurred on Lufthansa 401 from New York (JFK) to Frankfurt (FRA) on Wednesday, May 4, 2022 onboard a Boeing 747-8
- As many as 170 Orthodox Jews were traveling on the flight, with many connecting to Budapest to visit the grave of Rabbi Yeshaya Steiner of Kerestir
- This included a trio of group bookings as well as many individual bookings
- Some Jewish passengers onboard refused to wear masks despite repeated reminders from flight attendants
- These Orthodox passengers also apparently annoyed flight attendants by performing prayer in the galley, leading to a warning from the captain over the PA that the passengers were not to block galley and had to wear masks or else they would “have a problem” with their connecting flight
- Upon landing in Frankfurt, passengers connecting to Budapest were individually paged, with most (but not all) Jewish passengers denied boarding for their onward flight to Budaepest
- The Budapest flight took off with less than 20 passengers, operated by an aircraft that could handle 192 passengers
- A gate agent allegedly told a passenger that this was at the insistence of the captain, who decided he did not want to risk any trouble on the flight to Budapest
- Armed police officers surrounded the gate area and shielded Lufthansa agents from direct questioning over why all passengers who seemingly appeared Jewish were being denied boarding for the mask violations of a few
- One angry passenger called a police officer a Nazi, which is a crime in Germany
- Passengers were rebooked on later flights, with many not being permitted to travel until the following day
Disturbingly, the following exchange was captured on video:
Passenger: This is gruesome.
Lufthansa: It would have been if you were African, if you were Polander.
Passenger: I was wearing a mask the entire time, why am I lumped in with them?
Lufthansa: It was one, everyone has to pay for a couple.
Passenger: What do you mean everybody, everybody from that race? Everybody else on the flight went.
Lufthansa: Not everybody.
Passenger: The non-Jewish people on the flight went. Why are only the Jewish people paying for other people’s crimes?
Lufthansa: Because it’s Jews coming from JFK.
Passenger: Oh, so Jewish people coming from JFK are paying for the crimes of a few people?
Lufthansa: No
Passenger: Jewish people are paying for the crimes of Israel?
Lufthansa: No
Passenger: Just the Jewish people on that flight?
Lufthansa: Do you want to discuss with me or no? Do you want to listen to me?
Passenger: I’m like shocked beyond, never in my adult life. I’ve never heard this.
Lufthansa: If you want to do it like this, Jewish people who were the mess, who made the problems.
Passenger: So Jewish people on the plane made a problem, so all Jews are banned from Lufthansa for the day?
Lufthansa: Just for this flight.
Outrageous:
Banning ALL Jews from a flight because of an alleged mask violation by some Jewish passengers is textbook antisemitism from @Lufthansa.
While this is infuriating, the airline’s apathetic response to this incident is equally shocking. pic.twitter.com/CAbIVFlCfN
— American Jewish Committee (@AJCGlobal) May 9, 2022
My Own Observations On Discrimination In Germany
One of the things that has always given me pause is how openly discriminatory Germany is. Note very carefully, I’m not equating racism to discrimination: there is a difference and not all discrimination is necessarily racism.
During the European refugee crisis and even more recently on flights from developing nations, heavily armed German federal police officers would meet flights at the gate. White people are allowed into the terminal without documents being checked while dark skinned people are pulled aside and must furnish their papers before even being allowed into the arrivals hall.
Same thing on trains. On multiple occasions when we passed the Swiss-German border into Germany, I witnessed dark skinned people being asked for their passports but I never was.
Why bring this up? Because I’ve witnessed so much discrimination in Germany that it does make me more likely to believe a story that sounds so horrible both in and out of context. Did Sippenhaft occur here? We cannot foreclose that possibility.
Statement From Lufthansa
Folks, I took a look at this issue with an open mind, wondering if it was another Westin Leipzig incident (initial claims by Gil Ofarim of horrible anti-semitism were later determined to be false). This does not appear so. Lufthansa has released a detailed statement (below), but it really doesn’t justify the stinging words of the gate agent above.
We confirm that a larger group of passengers could not be carried yesterday on Lufthansa flight LH1334 from Frankfurt to Budapest, because the travelers refused to wear the legally mandated mask (medical mask) on board.
By German law, Lufthansa, similar to any and all carriers operating in Germany, is obliged to follow the legal requirements of this mandate. In the new German Infection Protection Act, the obligation to wear a mask remains in place in public transport and thus also on board flights, as well as across all aspects of air transport. Medical or FFP2 masks must therefore continue to be worn on board Lufthansa flights, at all times.
For legal reasons we cannot disclose the number of guests involved in the incident, however Lufthansa has rebooked the guests on the next available flight to their final destination. A prerequisite for transportation is that the travelers complied with the mask mandate, which is a legal requirement.
As safety and security of our passengers and staff is our top priority, Lufthansa will continue to abide by all legal requirements, including the mask mandate imposed by the German government and those of the countries served. We do so without prejudice and with the wellbeing of all our guests.
One other comment: it does not appear many were accommodated on the “next available flight.”
What remains unseen, and is very important in understanding this case, is the extent of the mask violations on the New York – Frankfurt flight. Was it truly just a small number of passengers or was it far more, making it very difficult to identify individual violators? Even that would not necessarily justify the manner in which Lufthansa handled the incident, but would help provide us more context.
CONCLUSION
Collective group punishment for individual crimes is not acceptable. The optics of this happening in Germany are even worse. There is only one situation I can imagine in which a “group” punishment is appropriate: if the entire group was in repeated violation of the mask rules. That does not appear to be the case, though it will be important to track whether Lufthansa offers any further explanation for the way in which it handled the incident.
If the decision to deny boarding to a group of travelers based upon their religious or ethnic identity was made by one captain, Lufthansa also needs to re-evaluate its process for denying passengers boarding. That concentrates too much powers in the hands of one person.
Interestingly, this is not the first such incident in Western Europe. KLM and Delta were accused of anti-Semitism last year for denying a large group of Jewish students from boarding, also justifying its decision on the basis of the failure of members of the Jewish group to wear masks.
> Read More: Delta Air Lines Throws Off 18 Jewish Girls…For Eating Onboard At The “Wrong” Time
> Read More: More Details Emerge On The Strange Case Of 18 Jewish Girls Booted From KLM And Delta Flights
Jews are not oppressed people almost anywhere. women are not oppressed in many parts of the world Gays are not oppressed in many parts of the world.
Everyone likes to be a drama queen.
Are you high? It’s extremely dangerous to be identifiably Jewish in dozens of countries worldwide, including several European supposedly “Western” countries.
Just because you don’t experience it doesn’t mean those who do are being drama queens.
Same with being gay in most of the world. Not sure only is it illegal in large parts of the world, in several countries it’s punishable by death.
That guys belong to a “religion of peace” what comment you expected?
This entire thing was allowed to escalate by LH. It didn’t need to. One needs to measure response and consequences. It’s one thing to refuse travel to three people refusing to comply, but an entire group like this is just asking and begging for an international incident taking place. This was not a situation where they were endangering others directly, or the crew. The captain could have easily made a stern announcement that given the incident on the previous flight if there are issues with mask compliance the plane will be turned around and passengers arrested.
So poorly handled, and what idiot at LH would not see how this would turn out? The optics alone, wow. Roping off Orthodox Jews at a German airport surrounded by German Polizei with guns…not a good look.
as a f/a that has worked countless flights from SFO-TLV, prayers are always allowed; but NOT in the galley. Passengers are kindly directed to stand by the door, where there is enough space to conduct their prayers. Never ever have I had a negative comment on the matter.
@Gene: you are welcome to stay in your cave. Nobody cares about Covid anymore. It will be part of our lives. Now if you want to be in a zero Covid environment, move to China. You will love there.
Eh, it doesn’t have to be that extreme. One can still leave their home and live while complying with basic regulations and mandates. Unless you are the other extreme, like being pro-plague.
Were the people denied boarding all booked as a group (vs individual booking)? Wasn’t there an incident of misbahaving canadian passengers (influencers) on a flight to mexico and they all werethrown off/banned from the return?
Let’s NOT resort to throwing expressions like “Sippenhaft” casually around, as that word is connected to the nazi regime ruling in terror
No, all Jews were denied, including dozens who booked their own tickets with cash and miles as well as the groups.
There were mask issues with non-Jews on the flight as well, however none of them received a flight ban.
You can read the reporting in my post that Matthew linked to, https://www.dansdeals.com/points-travel/airlines/airline-news/outrageous-german-airline-bans-jews-flying-lufthansa-supervisor-jewish-people-mess-made-problems-everyone-pay-couple/
Were Jews connecting from other cities or those originating in FRA also denied boarding?
Lufthansa should have denied boarding to passengers who failed to comply with the rules. Physical appearance or race should not have played any role in the decision whatsoever.
One word: Masks!!!! 🙁 See the article below that shows unruly behavior has dipped on planes after mask mandate was no longer in place.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/05/06/unruly-passengers-airlines-masks/
I’ll be addressing that story today or tomorrow – but while I may be personally against masks at this point, Lufthansa has a right to require them and passengers have a duty to comply.
Not saying anything about Lufthansa requiring masks but the overall nightmare this nonsense has caused worldwide. And for all mask lovers out there, if the mandate was “all passengers are required to wear approved N95 masks for the entire duration of the flight” I would be happy to comply. From the moment you allow people to wear whatever piece of cloth they want on their faces and take it out to eat and drink the mask mandate lost all its credibility. It is a theater.
“the overall nightmare this nonsense has caused worldwide”
Mostly by people who couldn’t handle the simple task of wearing a freaking mask.
@ Santastico — Where is the accompanying chart showing the rise in COVID cases?
@Gene: you are welcome to stay in your cave. Nobody cares about Covid anymore. It will be part of our lives. Now if you want to be in a zero Covid environment, move to China. You will love there.
@ Santastico — Be ignorant of the facts if you wish.
@Gene: Ignorant is a word that belongs in your dictionary. Leave your cave and catch a flight. I catch a minimum 4 flights every week and have not been wearing masks since the second the stupid mandate was gone. And I am alive and cal tell you that less than 5% of people on planes wear a mask. You can continue to be brainwashed or you can look for mental health assistance.
@ Santastico — Where did you get the idea that I do not fly frequently? Can you please show me where I said that?
Some people just like being pro-plague, I suppose?
I certainly don’t agree with LH’s behavior, but can somewhat understand it and don’t think it’s racism.
The main problem is probably that they can’t tell who’s who. Many passengers wearing black hats misbehaved and disrupted the flight. They all look the same and sound the same. So the crew can’t tell the guilty from the innocent.
What can they do? Either let them all proceed to their next flight, where the same disruption would naturally repeat, or deny them all.
I guess the captain chose what they considered the lesser evil.
But no, it was the greater evil.
Excellent exhibit of exactly *why* it’s such a terrible thing. Insert *black* or *Asian* in your paragraph instead and you’ll likely understand.
@Uri how about this – Some Black people commit crimes. Law enforcement can’t tell the difference between guilty and innocent. Therefore all black people are suspected criminals and treated as such.
Sounds OK to you?
You’re speaking as if the cabin crew doesn’t have a manifest that allows them to identify passengers based on seat assignment.
And if the crew can’t tell the difference between passengers because they’re dressed similarly, yes that is inherently prejudicial. It’s profiling, plain and simple.
Some people just like being pro-plague, I suppose?
Sorry, wrong reply to.
This is a pretty bad look for Lufthansa – especially for Lufthansa – and I think we all know what this is about. Racism and antisemitism unfortunately is part of the human condition, but especially so in Europe where it comes much closer to the surface than in most other places. Giving airline staff and crew the arbitrary authority to punish insufficiently enthusiastic maskers though has allowed the very worst prejudices in people to come out of hiding and gives them a means to express it.
Relatedly I was on a Jet Blue flight from the Caribbean last month and it was unmistakeable that one of the crew was taking out her resentments against black men using their mask wearing as a pretense – while not bothering white passengers doing the same.
You are never going to get rid of the prejudices but you can get rid of the arbitrary authority granted to airline staff.
Flying while Jewish. Almost as dangerous as Driving while Black.
So not dangerous at all then?
The opposite, in fact.
I don’t think the intent of anyone at LH was to specifically be anti-Semitic, but unfortunately when you single out Jewish people, you are doing just that. A stern warning followed by allowing the pax to proceed to BUD would have resulted in a much better outcome for all parties involved, and not a single person would have been harmed.
Short answer: No. Lufthansa is being falsely accused.
Care to explain why?
To be fair to these passengers, the mask info is inconsistent flying into Europe right now. Last week I flew Newark – Lisbon with UA. We were required by UA to mask up before boarding in Newark and told Portugal required that we stay masked for the duration of the flight until leaving the airport in Lisbon. When I got to Lisbon airport, there was no mask mandate, immigration were maskless, and passengers from other flights (including an AA arrival) were arriving unmasked.
If you really need to ask if this event was anti-Semitic you now know why Jews do not feel safe in 2022.
Dicey situation. When in Europe, you need to comply with their mandates as required, or you’re going to feel some pain. You aren’t allowed to cry in that world, because rules are rules. And if you’re a minority and don’t do what’s asked, there’s going to be double hell to pay. The smallest of infractions that are ignored in the US matter much, much more in Germany. Perhaps LH did discriminate in terms of punishment, but at the end of the day, they wouldn’t have done what they did if the passengers had followed the rules, and they didn’t. We all know how that works out in a place that is supposed to work like clockwork.
Jews are 3% of the population, control every industry from social media to music to venture capital to the teachers union, own a disproportionate amount of wealth, and push governments around the world to criminalize every asking questions about them or criticizing them. It’s disgusting one group gets special protections yet the rest are subjected to indignities and torture because they are not the special 3% group.
I oppose enforcement of all mask mandates by flight attendants, however, it is unfortunate one group that is 3% of the population gets special concern while our groups (Whites, Asians, Indians, and etc) flying on planes don’t.
based!
they just realized they don’t own Lufthansa though.
Congratulations! You’re an anti-semite as well.
Case in point, Amy. Because of people like you Jews are still being persecuted in 2022. You’d think I was reading the Medieval Ages Gazette or Mein Kampf…
I should stop being shocked each time I read that there are people nowadays who believe these false beliefs but it blows me away each time.
Get outta your cave, Amy Fischer!
I know more Jews who are hardworking, honest, and rather poor than any of your descriptions.
You’re narrow-minded.
I had a bad incident with LH with my parents in 2014. While I was sure it was their race that made lh agents act the way they treated my parents, lh didn’t want even to acknowledge any wrong doing, simply said it’s their policy but later a blogger gave details of their white parents got exceptions…even more reassurance for racism at lh. Then I started searching Facebook and realized it was rather common for lh. Anyways I haven’t flown lh since then and I left star alliance as well. Many people say they won’t fly blah blah and they do but in my case I put my money where I believe in. Later years, I travelled to Germany many times and I come to realize that many Germans are plain racist and don’t even hide it. They think it is normal and it is ok. That’s why I understood why lh is like that as an organization
Can you imagine if LH had said 3 black people aren’t wearing masks so all black people, including those separately booked who have nothing to do with the incident, are banned from the flight? If one is not acceptable, why is the other? Absolutely appalling and the piss poor statement by LH even moreso. Canceling my next LH flight.
My feeling is that the motivation wasn’t antisemitic. A few people from a group behaved badly and the decision was made to punish the entire group. Whether Jews, Indians, a sports team, kids group the result would have been the same. That’s obviously a reading that puts Lufthansa in the best possible light.
And even so LH has behaved abominably badly. It’s simply not acceptable to punish an entire group when a few people misbehave. Especially over something like masks. And LH can’t just blame this on a single Captain or gate crew. The order not to allow rebooking obviously came from well up the corporate chain. And whoever made that decision had to know they were talking about Jews.
Both LH and the German police failed massively in this regard. That no one could see how horribly bad the optics would be on this is unbelievable. That a German cop who had been asked to single out a group based solely on the fact they are Jewish could not or did not see that this was a horrible idea they should have no part of us indicative of a number of things none of them good.
Both LH and the German police should be rethinking how they address issues like this. LH needs to not punish whole groups in the basis of a few individuals. And the German police when asked to support discrimination against group
Should refuse. When asked to shield employees of a company that is behaving badly they should refuse.
Poorly handled well, but as you can read there were incidents in the plane noone sees including blocking the aisles. And I assume (and lets wait for the whole story) it were not 3 people not wearing a mask, here they should have been denied boardin but:
1.) more people in the plane misbehaving (as you wrote)
2.) on ground ganging up (why else would LH call more than 20 policemen)
With this kind of heated behaviour it is understandable that they cannot let anyone involved fly on that day for security purposes.
The last decision I would have taken 100% the same. What is missing on all those articles is: how did it end up there, because that is the missing link and was not addressed from either side.
There is a picture of quite literally scores of jews not wearing masks in some of the stories I have seen. For them to say it was only a couple is a flat out lie, or said purposefully out of context. That is par for their course however…
Those pictures are from the airport in Frankfurt where masks were not required. LH requires them in flight, but not in the terminal.
Correct.
You just love to stir the pot. Remember when you said Jewish passengers should be sent to labor camps? I do. It was January 21, 2022 in your article titled “UNITED AIRLINES 787-10 DIVERTS AFTER BUSINESS CLASS POACHERS RIOT WHEN BUSTED.”
All able-bodied criminals should be sent to labor camps.
What a bunch of weirdos. People saying this makes bad optics because LH singled out jews have it wrong. They are so post anti semitism that they do not feel they need to treat jews that misbehave differently just because they happen to be jews.
But once you get the victim hood card, it’s such a powerful card that people do not like to let go of it. Jews, women, gays, blacks, browns, even white Republican males all famously love playing victims. Simply pathetic. All a bunch of drama queens.
Also these orthodox jews probably pop out kids like rabbits. They all should be castrated after two kids.
How did LH know who the jews were?
Well, they could identify Orthodox passengers based on clothing and accoutrements, which seemed to be the majority.
I was referring to the others who were not part of the group.
If people misbehave on flights they might be prohibited from further transportation. And here it was not only about masks but also blocking aisles and emergency exits, not follwing announcements of the crew etc. So what…
I agree – the question is whether some Jews were punished not for failing to wear a mask or blocking aisles, but for appearing Jewish.
Yep, that’s right – and at the same time the main problem. People running around on board and the (maybe) the crew aren’t able to pick the (exact) unruly passengers. Definitely not easy to handle, like similar situations with i.e. football fans. Where’s the line?