Lufthansa faces a $4 million fine from the United States Department of Transportation and a strict warning never to lump passengers, Jewish or otherwise, together on the basis of their ethnicity or religion.
US Levies $4 Million Fine Against Lufthansa After Discrimination Against Jewish Passengers In Frankfurt
Our story takes us back to 2022, a story I covered then, in which all (identifiable) Jewish passengers were removed from a Frankfurt to Budapest flight because of the poor behavior of a limited number of Jewish passengers traveling from New York to Frankfurt.
- 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 Budapest
- 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
Video (see here) is damning and Lufthansa was forced to apologize (with handwritten notes from the CEO) and sent every impacted Jewish passenger a $21,000 payment (with some of that going to attorneys).
Two years later, the DOT issued a cease and desist to Lufthansa, instructing the German airline never to engage in such behavior again, and also fined Lufthansa $4 million:
Lufthansa took action that had an adverse effect on these passengers whose only affiliation with each other was that they were of the same religion and/or ethnicity. Lufthansa’s actions impacted passengers who did not engage in problematic conduct. OACP finds that, under the totality of the circumstances, Lufthansa’s treatment of the 128 Jewish passengers as a collective group, based on the alleged misconduct of a smaller number of those individuals, constitutes discrimination based on religion in violation of 49 U.S.C. § 40127.
Based on our review of available evidence, we find that Lufthansa’s staff made no meaningful effort to specifically identify and track the individuals who failed to follow crew instructions to abide by the applicable laws and regulations, and to tailor the consequences accordingly. Those efforts could have included obtaining the names and likenesses of the misbehaving passengers and linking them to the seats they were sitting in. To the extent that misbehaving passengers were out of their seats, Lufthansa staff could have tracked which seats were empty and then identified which passengers took those seats. While these processes may not have been perfect, they would have resulted in tracking the individuals about whom Lufthansa had concerns and would have significantly reduced the likelihood that innocent passengers would be denied boarding for discriminatory reasons. Instead, Lufthansa has failed to show that its crew took any action to document the identities of specific passengers who engaged in misconduct.
And while I’m not sure the $4 million fine was necessary, the DOT’s message is clear and appreciated: you cannot punish all passengers who “look alike” because a few of them act up (when not acting in defense of imminent harm, for those who may broaden the group punishment discussion). It is unacceptable anywhere, but particularly uneccpetable in the developed world (and legally, on a carrier that serves the United States or impacts US citizens).
I hope Lufthansa has learned a very valuable lesson here.
This was a very unfortunate incident which has been blown out of proportion .
I have much sympathy with haredim , because they are frequently singled out for second looks because of their unusual appearance .
Nevertheless , an airline has rules , and airline staff do have an obligation to advise passengers of the rules , and they ought to have complied during the flight .
That said , Germans do tend to present as officious and authoritarian .
The settlement does appear fair , because the passengers were granted generous compensation .
As Matt has personally experienced, sometimes flight crew and FA’s can become arrogant thinking their role as authority figures gives them carte blanche (sp?) to do as they please.
Good for the DoT for calling this behavior out.
That being said, the pilot certainly was within his authority to request passengers not block the galley. I’m reminded of this wonderful advice given by James Dalton on Roadhouse:
“If somebody gets in your face and calls you a c***sucker, I want you to be nice. Ask him to walk. Be nice. If he won’t walk, walk him. But be nice. If you can’t walk him, one of the others will help you, and you’ll both be nice. I want you to remember that it’s a job. It’s nothing personal.:”
Doesn’t that movie end with him ripping someones throat out with his bare hand?
The bad guys used the Hamas style human shield defense, unfortunately. Lufthansa could have tried to identify the bad guys but engaged in collective punishment of all. That is not good and Lufthansa got fined. The terrorists got $21,000 each.
The flight attendants had the opportunity to identify the repeat violators. In not doing so, lead to a poor decision by the pilot. While I can understand frustration by the crew, targeting the correct passengers for punishment is essential.
This is a reminder to put away the broad brush when we find ourselves in anger.
Yeah, the FAs and pilots really messed up.
@Matthew, the actual fine is only $2 million. They got a credit for $2 million for compensation paid to pax.
Appreicate that clarifcation!
LH’s partner UA will have contributed to the costs of this incident.
You mean as a JV partner?
Exactly why the lack of certainty the fine was not necessary, Matthew? What would have been a more appropriate remedy?
I’m not sure the government needed additional money after each passenger was paid $21K. I did appreciate the strong reminder to LH that such conduct was unacceptable.