Novinky.cz

World

Lufthansa prevented Jewish passengers from boarding the plane, will pay a hefty fine

The investigation into the entire case began after the ministry received more than 40 complaints from Jewish passengers who traveled from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York to Budapest on May 3, 2022. The flight had a planned stopover in Frankfurt, but the airline prevented passengers from boarding the connecting flight there.

The reason was the inappropriate behavior of some passengers during the flight from New York, writes The New York Times. According to the flight captain’s testimony, these passengers did not follow the crew’s instructions and did not wear face masks during the flight, staying in the aisle and at the emergency exits. The company attributed the behavior of several men in traditional orthodox clothing to all 128 passengers.

Lufthansa later acknowledged that this measure would also harm passengers who complied with the crew’s instructions, but concluded that it was not practical to deal with each passenger individually. Furthermore, the company stated that the employees were not able to identify individuals because the offenses were very numerous, lasted for a significant part of the flight and the passengers changed seats during the flight. Most of the passengers booked other flights on the same day when the incident occurred, writes the BBC.

“No one should face discrimination while traveling, and this action sends a clear signal to the airline industry that we take the necessary steps whenever passengers’ civil rights are violated,” US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement.

According to the ministry, no specific persons were found to have violated the crew’s instructions, which contradicts Lufthansa’s justification for denying boarding.

After a year and a half of investigating the incident, the Ministry of Transport concluded that the company must pay a fine of two million dollars (46.5 million crowns) within thirty days. Another, the same amount was included in the fine by the ministry in the form of compensation, which was already provided to the passengers.

At the same time, the department stated that this is the largest fine it has imposed for a violation of civil rights. According to the authority, the company’s behavior is religious discrimination, which violates several American laws.