Two years ago Lufthansa banned Jews off of a New York JFK – Frankfurt flight from continued travel for a 24 hour period, after some passengers on board didn’t comply with mask rules and other crewmember instructions.
- Non-Jews violating mask rules weren’t prevented from taking their connections.
- And the ban included passengers who could be identified as likely Jewish, even if they hadn’t broken any rules.
The German flag carrier scapegoated Jewish passengers and practiced collective guilt. Here’s a Lufthansa representative explaining that it’s Jews that caused problems, so the airline banned Jews from travel.
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: 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.
The Department of Transportation and Lufthansa have entered a consent order addressing the airline’s discrimination based on religion, impacting 128 Jewish passengers on May 4, 2022 who were traveling from New York JFK to Budapest via Frankfurt and who were denied boarding on their connecting flight due to the misconduct of some passengers on the first leg of the journey.
- Lufthansa applied a “High Priority Comment” to the reservations of 123 passengers who were flagged as part of the group traveling to Budapest. This prevented them from boarding the connecting flight to Budapest without manual intervention by the gate agent. The passengers flagged were mostly Orthodox Jewish men, visibly wearing traditional attire.
- The boarding process for the flight to Budapest was altered, with only passengers without an HPC being called by name to board. This left the remaining flagged passengers waiting at the gate.
- The decision to deny boarding to the passengers was made by Lufthansa’s Security Duty Manager and the Integrated Operations Control Center at Frankfurt Airport. They based their actions on the flight crew’s report of misbehavior and the HPC flags in the booking system, without investigation of individual misconduct. None of the IOCC staff had interacted with the passengers directly. The “blanket exclusion” affected passengers who had complied with the crew’s instructions.
The DOT found that Lufthansa’s actions constituted religious discrimination under U.S. law (49 U.S.C. §§ 40127, 41310, 41712), as the airline only flagged Jews and treated the entire group as if they had all engaged in misconduct based solely on their shared religious identity.
Lufthansa argued that their actions were based on safety concerns and compliance with mask regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the DOT determined that Lufthansa’s response was discriminatory, as the airline made no effort to identify the specific individuals responsible for misconduct and instead denied boarding to nearly all passengers visibly associated with the Orthodox Jewish community.
The German carrier agreed to a $4 million civil penalty as part of the settlement. Half of the amount is payable within 30 days, while the remaining $2 million is credited for compensation already provided to passengers. Lufthansa is also ordered to cease similar discriminatory practices in the future.
(HT: @DansDeals)
Update: A Lufthansa spokesperson shares,
The longstanding mission of the Lufthansa Group is to connect people, cultures, and economies in a sustainable way. As a global aviation group, our diversity of people and passengers is one of our greatest strengths. Lufthansa is a respected corporate citizen, playing a meaningful role in shaping a more inclusive society.
Following the May 2022 incident involving our Jewish passengers, Lufthansa has fully cooperated with the DOT throughout its review process. We remain focused on the many efforts which have been initiated including, partnering with American Jewish Committee (AJC), a highly respected and globally recognized advocacy organization and thought leader. Through our ongoing collaboration, we have curated a first-of-its kind training program in the airline industry for our managers and employees to address antisemitism and discrimination.
Lufthansa is dedicated to being an ambassador of goodwill, tolerance, diversity, and acceptance. As the first airline to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, Lufthansa will continue to foster a thoughtful dialogue with Jewish communities and organizations around the world. Furthermore, we will continue to provide excellence in service to our valued customers and remain a reliable partner globally.
The consent order should also have required that the person in the video be identified with proof from Lufthansa that he was or will be immediately terminated and barred from working for Lufthansa or any of its affiliated airlines in the future.
This is just an appalling incident.
I suppose their F/As are allowed to wear their “Pro Hamas” pins though, so it all works out?
Justice is served…
And coming from Germany is very surprising…
You would think…
Dangers of generalization.
We’ll be sure never to fly on a Lufthansa flight, and we will be suspect of interactions with any Lufthansa employees.
Lufthansa might as well change their livery, and put a swastika on the tail of their aircraft.
Antisemitism towards the Jewish from Germans? I’m floored.
A relatively inconsequential fine for a large airline. It will not hurt the airline. I don’t think it will change the minds of the management and employees of the airline. The reason that the amount is so low is that the airline agreed to it instead of being denied gate privileges in the USA until it was decided by a court.
Why America thinks it’s the ruler of the entire world is beyond me. It would be greatly helpful to our own society if our politicians and bureaucrats kept their eyes on what happens in America and stop trying to police the rest of the world. A ‘fine’ for wrongdoing is completely meaningless to a huge corporation. And yet, we keep ignoring our own country and interfering with other countries.
@jsn55, true, but I think this happened to US citizens, and is related to a flight that originated at JFK.
@jsn55 – “Why America thinks it’s the ruler of the entire world is beyond me.”
The incident in question happened on board a flight departing the U.S. It was U.S. citizens originating in the U.S. who were stranded in Frankfurt, denied boarding for their connection, despite traveling on tickets sold to customers through U.S. distribution channels.
While I am often critical of claims of U.S. extraterritorial jurisdiction, this one is pretty on point.
Great. Kill racism of any kind. They should pay much more than $4M. German racism is endemic in the culture. Like many countries including America. The reason is that it’s in our biology. We are programmed to dislike what is different from us. We are programmed to like what is similar to us. Modern culture tries to fight it, but it is damn near impossible.
is this the beginning of the 4th reich
Their homes should be bulldozed.
Lufthansa should have had an equity policy and selected a number of gentiles equal to that of the Jews and treated all equally, irrespective of who were the problem-makers. Singling out members of a minority, even though they may have violated policy, procedure, or regulations and may have caused trouble or problems was unwise and asking for trouble. What would have happened had the guilty been Muslim, black, Hispanic, or Asian? Would Lufthansa have been punished? What’s worse is that Lufthansa is a German airline. A person cannot help wondering how El-Al would have handled the matter.
So the bad guys refusing to wear masks got $20,000 instead of punishment.
The DOT was overreaching somewhat because the airline’s misconduct was not on a US flight. It was Frankfurt ground handling and/or the FRA-BUD flight crew so the German government should have been the ones assessing the fine, not the US DOT.
@gleff the incident (denied boarding) happened in Frankfurt, DE, post deplaning. German law applies and the DOT doesn’t have jurisdiction abroad. DOT is opportunistic and Lufthansa simply pays for the problem to go away.
@ABC that is simply incorrect as a matter of law
As “a matter of law” it doesn’t need to be fair to be legal. I’m confident that $4 million was cheap in their estimation to make it go away.
@ ABC . . . it’s “disembarking.” The English and Germans, and just about everyone else in the world, have this right in their announcements.
These Js are always behaving badly on flights, especially with the German crews. They are frequently rude to and goad the cabin crew. When the crew finally says something, the big rabbi starts yelling about antisemitism. The crew cools down but the Js continue to abuse the crew verbally. I’ve seen it play out many times. Keep believing in their sham so you can pay them reparations until the end of time.