This penalty stands as the largest ever issued by the agency for civil-rights violations against an airline.

The incident in question involved a group of 128 passengers, most of whom wore attire typical of Orthodox Jewish men. These passengers were barred from boarding a connecting flight in Frankfurt bound for Budapest. Prior to this, they had traveled from New York to Germany to attend a memorial event in Budapest honoring an Orthodox rabbi.

Despite many of these individuals not knowing each other, Lufthansa reportedly treated them as a single group due to the behavior of a few. The airline crew did not pinpoint specific passengers for failing to follow the instructions, which included wearing face masks and avoiding gathering in the aisles or near emergency exits. The lack of specific identification was attributed to the sheer number of violations and frequent seat trading among passengers.

The subsequent denial of boarding by Lufthansa, after being alerted by the captain about the passengers' misbehavior, triggered the heavy fine. Although the airline disputed allegations of discrimination, it did concede that there were procedural and communication errors on their part.

Lufthansa has since settled with most of the affected passengers in 2022. As part of the fine, the U.S. Transportation Department credited the airline $2 million due to the compensation Lufthansa had already provided to the passengers, effectively reducing the fine by half.