Federal Appellate Court Rejects New York Airline Passenger Bill of Rights

By Aaron Poehler

Published on March 26, 2008

Under the New York Airline Passenger Bill of Rights, airlines could be fined up to $1000 per passenger for failing to supply food, water, fresh air, electricity, and functioning bathrooms during delays of three hours or longer. However, the Court of Appeals found that the state law was pre-empted by the federal Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 and improperly asserted regulatory authority, which interfered with the Federal Aviation Administration’s mission to maintain uniform air travel standards.

The Court’s decision will likely discourage other states that had been considering adopting similar passenger rights laws, including California. However, both the United States Department of Transportation and legislators from New York, California, Illinois, and elsewhere have acknowledged long tarmac delays as a widespread problem and that passage of some form of federal passenger rights bill is considered likely.

No airlines had yet been fined under the New York law, which went into effect January 1. The law was passed in the wake of long delays at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport that left hundreds of passengers stranded aboard planes for as long as ten hours without adequate supplies or services.

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