The innovative passenger rights law passed by New York is preempted by a 1978 U.S. statute that relaxed federal regulation of the airline industry. The federal appeals court ruled that allowing individual states to make laws would create a patchwork of laws that should fall under a nationwide federal rule.
Bloomberg reported:
If the New York law was allowed to stand, the appeals court wrote, “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 AP’s report stated:
A federal appeals court has rejected the first law in the nation requiring airlines to provide food, water, clean toilets and fresh air to passengers trapped in a plane delayed on the ground.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that New York’s new state law interferes with federal law governing the price, route or service of an air carrier.
The appeals court said the new law was laudable and the circumstances that brought them about were deplorable but only the federal government has the authority to enact such a law.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
So feds, where are ya?