Appeals court overturns New York State airline passenger law

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

2:57 PM EDT, March 25, 2008

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A federal appeals court Tuesday struck down 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 said New York's new law interferes with federal law governing the price, route or service of an air carrier.

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

"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.

It 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.

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 2007.

They complained that they were deprived of food and water and that toilets overflowed. A month later, hundreds more passengers were stranded at the same airport after a daylong ice storm.

Assemblyman Michael Gianaris, D-Astoria, the prime sponsor of New York Airline Passenger Bill of Rights, said in a statement that the ruling will not stop the effort to protect passengers stranded on flights that never get off the ground.

"The court's decision is a disappointment to anyone who has suffered at the hands of airlines that care more about profits than their customers," he said. "This is far from over."

In a statement, the air transport association said the ruling vindicates their position that airline services are regulated by the federal government and that "a patchwork of laws" by states and local authorities would be impractical and not benefit customers.

"This clear and decisive ruling sends a strong message to other states that are considering similar legislation," it said.

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.