BERLIN — A group of parents whose children were killed in the Germanwings plane crash in March released a scathing letter Tuesday to Lufthansa’s CEO, accusing him of ignoring their needs and feelings and insulting them with his company’s compensation offer.
The parents of 16 students from the town of Haltern accused Carsten Spohr of never having spoken with relatives to apologize — a charge that is disputed by the airline.
The letter comes amid negotiations with Lufthansa, Germanwings’ parent airline, over compensation for the March 24 crash.
Prosecutors believe the Airbus A320 was intentionally crashed into a French mountain by copilot Andreas Lubitz, killing all 150 people on board the flight from Barcelona to Duesseldorf. Lufthansa has offered around $108,000 per family, depending upon its size.
German lawyer Elmar Giemulla, who represents the Haltern victims, has said the offer is far too low and is seeking at least three times that amount.
In their letter, provided by Giemulla, the parents, along with the fiance and husband of the two teachers who were with the Haltern students killed in the crash, said Spohr talked to journalists, ‘‘but you haven’t spoken with us.’’
‘‘You saw us at the memorial service in Haltern and the memorial in Cologne,’’ they wrote. ‘‘A couple of personal words would have shown us that you were not only there for the public, but also for us.’’
They added that Lufthansa’s compensation offer ‘‘deeply insults us, and above all else our children.’’
Lufthansa spokesman Andreas Bartels said, however, that Spohr had made every effort to talk with families, and attended not only the services in Haltern and Cologne but also had been to Barcelona and twice to the crash site.
Parents of the Haltern victims were among those he talked to, and he also sent a condolence letter apologizing to all families, Bartels added.