Airlines appeal decision in passengers’ rights case
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- December
- 21
The Air Transit Association of America filed an appeal against the state Friday, a day after a federal judge shot down the industry group’s challenge of New York’s airline passengers’ “bill of rights” law. The legislation, which takes effect Jan. 1, requires airlines to provide food, water, proper ventilation and functioning toilets when a plane has been sitting on an airport tarmac for more than three hours.
New York is the first state in the nation to adopt a passengers’ bill of rights. The impetus was a Feb. 14 ice storm that left JetBlue Airways passengers stranded on the tarmac at John F. Kennedy International Airport for more than nine hours. Toilets were clogged, there was poor ventilation, and the airline couldn’t accommodate hungry and thirsty passengers. A handful of other states and Congress are considering similar legislation.
The Air Transit Association, which represents the nation’s leading airlines, argued in court this week that the federal Airline Deregulation Act prohibits states from regulating air carriers’ prices, routes and services. Airlines said the law would be costly and require them to hire more staff, purchase additional equipment, burn more fuel and reduce cabin storage space. Violations carry fines of up to $1,000 per passenger.
U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence Kahn dismissed the lawsuit Thursday, ruling that states have power to regulate matters of health and safety. The Airline Deregulation Act was set up to promote competition and foster lower costs and more efficiency among existing and new carriers, Kahn wrote in his ruling.
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on Friday, December 21st, 2007 at 7:59 pm by Cara Matthews.
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Jay Gallagher has covered Albany for Gannett News Service since 1984 and has been Albany Bureau chief since 1989. He`s a native of the Boston area and likes to point out that in this millennium, the score is Red Sox 1 championship, the Yankees 0. 
Cara Matthews has been a statehouse correspondent in the Albany Bureau since August 2005. Prior to that, she covered Putnam County government and politics at The Journal News for nearly five years. Before that, she worked at newspapers in Connecticut and covered the state Legislature for one of them. 
