American Airlines fined for denying kosher food to passengers
This June 2, 2021, photo shows an American Airlines aircraft at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
A Brazilian court has fined American Airlines $1,759 for failing to provide kosher food to two passengers who had been assured they would receive it on long-haul flights.
According to the details, one of the passengers went without food for 10 hours from New York to São Paulo. The other fasted for a total of nine hours on two flights, from Madrid to Philadelphia and then again from Chicago to London on Wednesday.
American Airlines “failed to provide the services” it had promised to render, the judge of the 23rd Civil Chamber of the Sao Paulo Court of Justice, José Marcos Marrone, wrote in his ruling.
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Marrone also wrote that, beyond the breach of the agreement, the airline caused the plaintiffs “emotional suffering” by serving food to virtually everyone else on the flight.
Airlines are not legally obligated to provide any type of food in the United States (US) or Brazil. However, both countries have consumer protection laws that can lead to criminal action against service providers once they commit in a transaction to deliver a certain product.
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On its website, American Airlines offers 15 of what it calls “special meals,” including kosher food. Both passengers claim to have requested kosher meals – food which is prepared with respect to Jewish law – prior to their flights. However, both claim that the crew were unable to provide these meals once in flight. Neither plaintiff was named in the case.
In the fine print for the kosher food option, the airline stipulates that Brazilian passengers can only get kosher food if they depart from Sao Paulo or Rio de Janeiro. The only other stipulation is that the airline cannot provide kosher food to passengers departing from India.
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