The charges stem from an incident in May 2022 in which 131 passengers planned to fly from New York City to Budapest, Hungary — with a connection in Frankfurt, Germany — for an annual memorial event for an Orthodox rabbi. Most wore the distinctive black hats and jackets typically favored by Orthodox Jewish men, the DOT says.

“Despite the 131 passengers having a common destination, most of the passengers did not know each other and did not book their flights as a single group,” according to the department’s consent order.

I sympathize with the passengers, but I also don’t think this was antisemitism. If a bunch of Trekkies all independently boarded the same plane to go to the World Star Trek convention, all dressed in Star Trek costumes, shirts, etc. and some of the Klingons got into a drunken brawl, I wouldn’t be all that shocked if the airline decided they, as a group, were going too far. It wouldn’t be fair to the rest of the Trekkies, but I can see their side of things.