Judge dismisses airline challenge to N.Y. passenger bill of rights
Michael Virtanen, AP, USA TODAY, 12/21/2007
ALBANY, N.Y. — A federal judge dismissed an industry trade group's challenge to the New York law requiring airlines to provide food, water, clean toilets and fresh air to passengers stuck on the ground for more than three hours.
U.S. District Judge Lawrence Kahn concluded Thursday those provisions are "presumed" and constitute a health and safety issue, not airline "services" that can be regulated only by federal authorities.
New York lawmakers passed America's first "airline passenger bill of rights" after a series of delays last winter at John F. Kennedy International Airport left some passengers stranded on the tarmac for more than 10 hours with no food or water, overflowing toilets and no air conditioning.
Supporters of the law say it could become a model for other states and it has been strongly opposed by airlines.
Industry lawyers told the judge at a hearing Tuesday that only federal authorities can regulate airlines, and requested an injunction to stop the state law from taking effect on Jan. 1. Instead, Kahn dismissed the lawsuit.
"The field of health and safety is one of the most established areas of state police power," Kahn wrote. "Fresh air, water, sanitation and food are necessities in the extreme situation in which this act applies. It threatens the public health to contain people on grounded airplanes for hours without these necessities, particularly, though not exclusively, if passengers include diabetics, young children, the sick or the frail."
The airline association, whose members carry more than 90% of U.S. passenger and cargo traffic, said it believes the judge misinterpreted the law and is considering its options, including filing an appeal. "ATA's sole purpose in filing this lawsuit was to preserve the principle that commercial aviation is best regulated by one source — the federal government — and not 50 individual states," the association said in a prepared statement.
The law says that after a pre-takeoff delay of more than three hours, airlines must ensure passengers, as needed, get electric generating service for fresh air and lights, waste removal to service restroom holding tanks and adequate food, drinking water and other refreshments.
"We're the first state in the country to do this," said Assembly Michael Gianaris, a Queens Democrat and sponsor of the measure. "The airline industry threw all its firepower at us and we stood up to them."
"What happens now is this movement spreads to the rest of the country and hopefully we'll have a national standard protecting airline passengers in the not too distant future," Gianaris said.