Some guy flying Lufthansa from Brazil to Zurich ordered his kosher meal but never received it during the flight.
Yitzchak Kopler sued the airline for $5000. 4 years later he won his lawsuit and was awarded $1400. The court said the customer has the right to receive the product he paid for. A kosher meal is not a luxury or accessory, but due to his religious ideals is something very important to the passenger.
source: Ynet
We were always taught by our Jewish mothers that whenever we get a flight, to anywhere, we bring some food with us... Even if he had that would not absolve Lufthansa, but at least he would have had some food to eat. Truth is, maybe he did - the article does not say he had to sit hungry for the duration of the flight, but he did not get what he ordered and needed.
El Al probably gives a $20 voucher for a lost meal.
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Sometimes it's hard to get anything on a plane that is kosher, besides awful bottled water. And the fact that it's against American law to bring fruit also makes it difficult. I've started taking along some instant oatmeal which can be mixed with water, even cold water if you're really desperate.
ReplyDeleteyou can no longer bring fruit on the p[lane? last I knew, you could bring fruit on the plane to eat onm the plane. you just couldnt bring it into the country to which you were traveling, so by the time you land you have to either eat it all or throw it out
DeleteWhat does this comment have anything to do with this blog post?
ReplyDeleteThis story was widely publicized and really bothered me.
ReplyDeleteWe've all had experiences where an airline forgot a meal, or served a meal that was inedible or frozen or off. Sometimes the airline apologizes, sometimes they don't. Often they will offer some type of compensation is you complain, which is good business for them, but that should be their decision.
This is common for all travellers (not just kosher travellers) and a common occurrence. The fact that a Jewish traveller saw this as an opportunity to raise cash by suing the airline is not only a Chilul HaShem, but helps to raise the price of travel (Airlines now will be paying more in legal insurance and will have to recover that expense from the consumer), and gives airlines an incentive to stop providing kosher meals - why risk offering a kosher meal if the cost to the airline may be thousands of dollars.