A group of Orthodox Jewish women who were blocked from flying back to New York last summer not once but twice are suing Delta Air Lines and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines for religious and racial discrimination. They claim their treatment by the airlines is a reminder that “anti-Semitism and discrimination” still exists.
The nineteen American women had spent nearly two weeks in Europe and Ukraine on a religious and educational tour of Jewish heritage that included “the atrocities of the Holocaust” but were booted from a return flight even after Delta chief executive Ed Bastian personally intervened.
The women believe they were singled out by the airlines and subjected to “egregious discrimination because of their Jewish race, ethnicity, and religion”. The dispute seemingly stems from the group’s observance of face mask rules but the young women claim they only ever removed their face masks to eat or drink.
The tour got off to a bad start when the larger group of more than 50 women flew with KLM to Amsterdam from New York last July. During the flight, one of the flight attendants demanded, without explanation, to see one of the group’s passports during what seemed like an otherwise normal flight.
While waiting for their connection to Vienna, Austria the group was then approached by an airline security officer who told a senior chaperone that members of the group “hadn’t behaved” on the previous flight. Although they were allowed to fly, their cards had seemingly been marked.
After their tour of Europe, the women flew with KLM from Ukraine to Amsterdam and were then due to connect to New York. On the first leg of their return journey, however, the group were reprimanded for eating Kosher food that they had brought with them outside of normal meal times.
A flight attendant warned the group several times about complying with face mask rules and then issued a ‘final warning notice’ on…