The Conclusion: Passengers From Lufthansa Flight 401 Are Now Receiving $17,400 Settlement Checks, What Are The Lessons From The #Flight401 Fiasco In Frankfurt?

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Most of the passengers who were collectively denied boarding on their connecting flight 1334 to Budapest after flying on Lufthansa flight 401 from JFK to Frankfurt earlier this year have come to a settlement with the airline.

Sources tell me that the airline has agreed to settle for $20,000 plus $1,000 to cover expenses related to the incident.

The law firm that negotiated that settlement is taking 18% of the $20,000, leaving passengers with $16,400 plus $1,000 to cover expenses, for a total of $17,400 per passenger. Those checks are now being sent out.

 

Roughly 128 passengers were denied boarding and 2 were allowed to board. If the airline paid out $21,000 to each of them, that would be an expense of about $2.7 million. However some passengers weren’t part of the settlement, for various reasons.

In the aftermath, Lufthansa and the AJC launched a joint initiative to combat global antisemitism. That included the airline endorsing the IHRA’s Working Definition of Antisemitism.

Are there any lessons to be learned from the disturbing incident?

Off the top of my head:

1. If you are visibly Jewish, you are under a magnifying glass at all times. Even if others are breaking the rules, you will be more noticeable and will be judged as a group for the way you dress. It may not be fair, but that’s life and we need to act accordingly. Wear the yarmulka and wear it proud, but know that it means we have to act beyond the letter of the law and others will expect us to as well.

2. Be your brother’s keeper. It might be uncomfortable, but gently remind them to please follow the rules, keep a closer watch on their children if they’re jumping on the tray tables, etc. That’s a tough ask, but try to do it in a way that will be effective.

During the uncomfortable scene at the Lufthansa boarding gate in Frankfurt, you can hear people getting visibly frustrated and losing their temper, but you can also hear people saying shrei nisht. You can be seething mad about a situation and demand that it be rectified without shouting and making yourself look bad in the process. And for the most part it worked. That gate situation was certainly calmer than could be expected during a stressful situation when 128 people are collectively denied boarding without any due process to identify the actual rulebreakers.

3. If you even think something is about to happen, start recording. Even if you think it’s too late, start recording anyway. Ideally, record surreptitiously without your phone right up in somebody’s face, so that it doesn’t become confrontational. Being discreet is especially important in foreign countries where video recording doesn’t have the same legal protections that we have in the US. It’s also good to learn how to recover photos and videos that you may be forced to delete from your phone, those typically can be recovered from folders for deleted files for a short period of time.

This story would have gone nowhere without video documentation of the “N-word” video, the cancellation announcements, and the shocking comments from the Lufthansa supervisor about all Jews being punished for the sins of a few.

4. Having the presence of mind to speak to a supervisor after the fact and to record it was brilliant. If you do decide to press employees for more information about a situation, be sure to record it. Even if you just point the camera at the floor, the audio will help, though obviously if you can hold your phone in your hand and point it up, it will be better.

If you are wronged while you travel, I’m always happy to help amplify it so that the airline makes things right, though not every story will make it into the New York Times or the Washington Post. Without video, it’s a he-said, she-said argument that won’t go anywhere, but if you have video, feel free to send it my way and I’d be happy to tell you my thoughts on the matter.

What lessons did you take from this incident?

Does this now absolve Lufthansa or will you still avoid flying them?


Are you more likely to avoid Lufthansa than before this incident?

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52 Comments On "The Conclusion: Passengers From Lufthansa Flight 401 Are Now Receiving $17,400 Settlement Checks, What Are The Lessons From The #Flight401 Fiasco In Frankfurt?"

All opinions expressed below are user generated and the opinions aren’t provided, reviewed or endorsed by any advertiser or DansDeals.

cb

lesson #5; the lawyers always win 😉

Miao

Lol

G

Shocking they only stole 18%…usually they steal 33%

service fee

Shocking that you call this stealing…

Mak

So a great wrong was committed and neither the US or German governments could be bothered to do anything about it, while the lawyers worked without charge to make Lufthansa ess drek and pay $2.7 Million. To whatever extent 18% of that is a “win, I’m glad they won. Without the lawyers these people would still have nothing and Lufthansa would still be denying everything. Show a little gratefulness.

Tov

Dan deserves some commission!
#goodbrother

AMH

+1

Than you sir

+1

CBF

In update 5 you wrote that the lawyers were pro Bono, what changed?

CollegeGirl

Pro bono somtimes means only until they get something, basically had Lufthansa not paid the passengers wouldn’t pay the lawyers either.

bob

Isn’t that called contingency?

Practical Joe

Will the pr people come out and explain why they settled and what they did wrong or it’s here’s a few dollars and shove it under the rug?

Joe

How about a public apology the right way…is that worth more than $17k

Than you sir

I think the passengers would disagree.

Mia Flyer

babka incoming CLE #commisionforall

talmid

Did someone at Lufthansa lose their job for making the airline pay $2.7M?

E

It’s Germany. You have to do 10x that kind of damage to lose your job.

Michael

Jay Sekulow made a profit of $332,800.00

KB

Only on the B747 or A340.

Anonymous

Who cares, making a big deal out of nothing.

#fjdo

until it happens to you

Y

Dan you should of get at least what the law firm gets.
18 percent of 2.7 million is $486,000
Even though we don’t expect this to happen it show’s how far your work and effort reached!!
May we all learn from you!

Gadget deals

This payout is the biggest Moifes yet from Reb Shaya ben Reb Moshe. And they didn’t even have to make it all the way to the tziyon.

Steve

🙂

Chuny

Nobody ever heard of vidergutmakhn? this is a disgrace

Moishele

Absolutely nothing to do with wiedergutmachen…. (And please spell it correctly)

Mendy Yossi

bad settlement. They should have sued for a lot more than this

Yaakov

Wait — Germans paying reparations to Jews for crimes against humanity……someone help me- when have I heard that before???

The intensity comes and goes…but the hatred never disappears.

European

If they could have gotten more, the lawyers would have geld out for their bigger pro bono commission.

jay

Who hired the lawyers? Did passengers on the flight have to be involved with the lawyers, or can they connect now to claim? Asking for a family member on the flight.

Berele

I think most passengers were part of a group arranged by 2 travel agencies and the agencies contacted the lawyer
Correct me if I’m wrong

ng

You see davening by Reb Shayale works very fast, you don’t need to be there you can just want to be there and you get helped

crs

Never mind the payouts. What’s absolutely chilling are the comments on those videos, esp the cancellation announcement one. We are still very much in galus.

Ben

Did you think we weren’t just because 182 people got a payout of $17000?
Was there anything that happened or did Dan say anything that indicated otherwise??
Correct, goyim don’t like us,
News at 11..

crs

I meant that the degree of jew-hating expressed in the comments there is very scary to see. Irrelevant to the payout. Or anything else. No need for the sarcasm.

chaim

any idea what happened to the group of girls that were denied boarding this summer from klm and then thrown off the delta flight . I remember hearing that some of them sued anybody know what happened?

elikip

The circumstances were very different in that fiasco. (Happened in summer of 2021)

chaim

I thought generally law suit settlements are confidential .Is that not true in this case?

Chuny

That is true, the passengers could get in trouble for publicizing this including losing the wiedergutmachen gelt

GUWonder

There is no “generally” to it. Sometimes there is a confidentiality clause negotiated into a class settlement agreement and other times there is not. The bigger the class, the less effective (and less valuable) a confidentiality clause ends up being in a class settlement agreement (if it even ends up being in there).

GUWonder

Glad to see class action litigation deliver the goods. Government regulators/departments are too soft on airlines, so class action lawsuits are the next best thing to send a message that illegal discrimination has legal consequences that amount to more than a meaningless slap on the wrist.

BBGB4

I hope those getting checks remember to give Tzedakkah and Maaser.

Jay

I hope they actually get the checks. Does anyone know anyone who actually got a check? I know ppl on the flight, but they didn’t get it.

Dovid

I feel bad for the 2 passengers that were allowed to fly

Canada

Don’t be an idiot on a plane simple

Moe

the german who didn’t let on “them jews” because of “them jews” was not on the plane. she denied letting “them jews” board.

Chaim
Tip

Ironic that this incident is being taken out of context to still push an antisemitic slant: https://old.reddit.com/r/PublicFreakout/comments/z8r9dm/german_policeman_reacts_to_being_called_a_nazi_at/

ר\' שעי\' בן ר\' משה זי\"ע

lets not forget about
ר’ שעי’ בן ר’ משה זי”ע

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Which law firm settled this?

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