Lufthansa Faces $6.4 Million Fine Over U.S. Violations

(Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Lufthansa AG was hit with a proposed $6.4 million fine Wednesday by U.S. aviation authorities over accusations that the carrier operated about 600 flights into San Diego and Philadelphia without proper approval.

The Federal Aviation Administration said Lufthansa knew it lacked authorization to fly to the two cities from March 22, 2018, through May 27 of this year, the agency said in a press release.

The airline has 30 days to respond to the allegations. Airlines and other companies often negotiate lower penalties after FAA civil complaints are filed.

“Lufthansa is fully cooperating with the FAA on this matter and will be addressing the regulatory issues involved with the agency,” the company said in an emailed statement. There were no FAA allegations that safety or security was compromised on the flights, the company said.

Under FAA regulations, foreign carriers operating in the U.S. must create detailed operations specifications and follow any procedures contained within them. Lufthansa’s operations specifications didn’t permit it to fly to San Diego and Philadelphia at the time of the violations and the airline knowingly did so in spite of that, FAA charged.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alan Levin in Washington at alevin24@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Elizabeth Wasserman at ewasserman2@bloomberg.net, Max Berley

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