Lufthansa has apologised publicly on X after a blunt reply to a passenger complaining about a long-delayed compensation case drew backlash online. The exchange centred on a customer posting under the handle @AQululu66418, known as “Baku Man”, who said the airline had ignored messages and emails for months over an approved payment identified as C-999983-G1X8.
The airline’s initial response told the passenger that staff had already replied several times through direct messages on different social platforms and that the answer would not “magically change” simply because the complaint had been repeated on X. Lufthansa later reversed course with a public apology, saying the earlier message was not how it treats passengers and that it was working to speed up the process. The visible record did not confirm whether the payment had been completed by the time of the apology.
The episode quickly turned into a reputational issue for the carrier, underscoring how customer-service exchanges on social media can escalate when refunds or compensation are already overdue. Lufthansa’s apology came the same day as the viral exchange, after the online reaction had shifted attention from the underlying claim to the tone of the airline’s response.