Lufthansa Fined in US for Barring Jewish Passengers From Flight
- German carrier to pay record $4 million; denies discrimination
- US government has taken hard line on consumer issues
The enforcement action is the latest in the department’s push to expand protections for travelers.
Photographer: Alex Kraus/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
German airline Deutsche Lufthansa AG was fined $4 million by the US Department of Transportation for allegedly discriminating against Jewish passengers who were kicked off a flight, marking the agency’s largest penalty ever against a carrier for civil rights violations.
During the May 2022 incident, Lufthansa staff prohibited 128 Jewish travelers — most wearing traditional Orthodox clothing — from boarding a connecting flight in Germany on a trip from New York to Budapest, the Transportation Department said in a statement Tuesday.