Court overturns air passenger rights law. Your thoughts?

Question

By LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press Writer
Tue Mar 25, 2:32 PM ET



NEW YORK - A federal appeals court Tuesday struck down a state law requiring airlines to give food, water, clean toilets and fresh air to passengers stuck in delayed planes, saying the measure was well-intentioned but stepped on federal authority.



The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said New York's law — the first of its kind in the country — interferes with federal law governing the price, route or service of an air carrier.

The law was passed after thousands of passengers were stranded aboard airplanes for up to 10 hours on several JetBlue Airways flights at Kennedy International Airport on Valentine's Day last year. They complained they were deprived of food and water and that toilets overflowed. A month later, hundreds more passengers of other airlines were stranded aboard planes at JFK after a daylong ice storm.

The law was challenged by the Air Transport Association of America, the industry trade group representing leading U.S. airlines.

The court said that while the goals of the law were "laudable" and the circumstances prompting its adoption "deplorable," only the federal government has the authority to pass such regulations.

"If New York's view regarding the scope of its regulatory authority carried the day, another state could be free to enact a law prohibiting the service of soda on flights departing from its airports, while another could require allergen-free food options on its outbound flights, unraveling the centralized federal framework for air travel," the court wrote.

Assemblyman Michael Gianaris, the prime sponsor of New York Airline Passenger Bill of Rights, said in a statement that the ruling "is a disappointment to anyone who has suffered at the hands of airlines that care more about profits than their customers."

"This is far from over," the Democrat said. Options for proponents of the law include an appeal, a new law or putting pressure on the federal government to create similar rules for long-delayed flights.

In a statement, the air transport association said the ruling vindicates its position that airline services are regulated by the federal government and that a "patchwork" of state and local measures would not benefit customers.

During appellate arguments earlier this month, Seth Waxman, a lawyer for the trade group, said a dozen other states and Congress were considering laws similar to New York's.

A recent federal report showed that about 24 percent of flights nationally arrived late in the first 10 months of last year, which was the industry's second-worst performance record since comparable data began being collected in 1995.

Kennedy airport had the third-worst on-time arrival record of any major U.S. airport through October, behind the New York area's other two major airports, LaGuardia and Newark, according to the report.

Answer 1

I think the judge is right. Aviation is a federal jurisdiction, and you cannot have any state or city or county making laws about subjects over which they have no authority.



For one thing, the moment any passenger tried to enforce his or rights under the legislation, the judge would have no option but to dismiss the complaint.



You can bet that judges, very very often, hold their noses when they rule on something about which the law is clear.



There was an interesting court case in Canada about air passenger rights. A man's flight was ruined because the woman in the next seat was drunk, abusive, threatening, and violent. When the guy tried to sue, the airline successfully argued that they are responsible, under the law, for the safety of the passengers but not their enjoyment. While they do what they can (which is considerable given the sardines-in-an-aluminum-tube nature of flying), Canadian airlines are NOT legally responsible for anyone's comfort or enjoyment.



The answer is to lobby the federal government to enact legislation similar to what was thrown out.

Answer 2

I agree with the court's decision - it IS a federal issue since it deals with interstate commerce. And it should be a federal issue anyway. Most airports have the potential to have major delays due to weather - if not because of ice/snow then because of thunderstorms or some other problem. Not to mention the problem of overcrowding of air space and airports, constant delays of flights, outdated air traffic control systems, poor customer service, maintenance of aircraft, and so on. So it's the entire country's policies that need changing. However, maybe New York's attempt to overhaul the system will prompt the FAA or other federal agency to take action. At least it's putting it out there that the government should do something. I do agree that something needs to be done.

Answer 3

Personally, I think the airlines spent a lot of money to lobby the appeals court members and the lawyers to snub this idea. The airlines would rather spend millions in bribes rather than care about the comfort of passengers on long delays or flights.

But that's just my opinion.

Answer 4

So they deny peoples rights?

Yupp. sounds like America



Chii