Lufthansa fined a record $4 million for denying boarding to 128 Jewish passengers
by Abhilasha · KalingaTVNew-York: Germany’s biggest airline, Lufthansa has been fined a record $4 million over an incident in which 128 Jewish travellers were barred from boarding their flight.
The 128 passengers were denied boarding to a connecting flight after a few did not follow instructions, including anti-Covid mask requirements, on a flight from the United States to Germany, US transport authorities said.
The German airline prohibited 128 Jewish passengers from boarding as they were wearing distinctive garb typically worn by Orthodox Jewish men. They were denied boarding as a group and were unable to connect in Frankfurt to Budapest from a New York flight because of alleged misbehavior of a few.
However, the passengers did not know each other nor were they traveling together.
The penalty is the largest ever issued by the DOT against an airline for a civil rights violation.
“No one should face discrimination when they travel, and today’s action sends a clear message to the airline industry that we are prepared to investigate and take action whenever passengers’ civil rights are violated,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement as reported by CNN.
In its response to the DOT, Lufthansa said it regretted and had publicly apologised for the incident, which resulted from an “unfortunate series of inaccurate communications, misinterpretations, and misjudgments”, according to a legal order filed by the department.