In May 2022, Lufthansa Airlines faced severe backlash after it prohibited 128 American Jewish passengers, dressed in traditional Orthodox attire, from transferring flights to Budapest. This incident was labeled as discriminatory, leading the Department of Transportation to impose a record fine of $4 million on the airline.
According to the Department, this group of passengers was not allowed to board their connecting flight in Germany, despite many of them being unrelated and not traveling together. “Lufthansa staff treated them as a single group based on the inappropriate behavior of a few, denying them boarding,” the Department stated.
The so-called inappropriate behavior included failing to comply with Lufthansa’s mask-wearing policy. Video footage from that day revealed staff informing the passengers that due to the actions of a minority, all Jewish travelers departing from Kennedy Airport would have to “pay the price.” German media reported that Lufthansa personnel identified the passengers as Jewish purely based on their kippahs and payot, leading to their denial of boarding on the flight to Hungary.
The $4 million fine marks the largest penalty imposed by the Department for civil rights violations by an airline.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg emphasized, “No one should face discrimination while traveling. Today’s action sends a clear message to airline operators: we will investigate thoroughly and take action whenever a passenger’s civil rights are violated.”
Deborah Lipstadt, the Biden administration’s envoy to combat antisemitism, expressed her disbelief during an NBC interview in 2022 when she first learned of how Lufthansa treated these passengers. “I said to myself, ‘Oh, they must have made a mistake. This can’t be true.’ Of course, later it became evident that it was, unfortunately, even worse than we thought.”
On the 15th, Lufthansa stated that it was fully cooperating with the Department’s investigation and had engaged with the American Jewish Committee. “Collaboration with all parties is ongoing, and our company has initiated unprecedented training sessions for management and staff on addressing antisemitism and discrimination issues.”
Following the incident, Lufthansa quickly issued an apology, emphasizing that the company does not tolerate any form of racism, antisemitism, or discrimination.
