Tyrone Said:

Court overturns air passenger rights law. Your thoughts?

We Answered:

I think the judge is right. Aviation is a federal jurisdiction, and you cannot have any state or city or county making laws about subjects over which they have no authority.

For one thing, the moment any passenger tried to enforce his or rights under the legislation, the judge would have no option but to dismiss the complaint.

You can bet that judges, very very often, hold their noses when they rule on something about which the law is clear.

There was an interesting court case in Canada about air passenger rights. A man's flight was ruined because the woman in the next seat was drunk, abusive, threatening, and violent. When the guy tried to sue, the airline successfully argued that they are responsible, under the law, for the safety of the passengers but not their enjoyment. While they do what they can (which is considerable given the sardines-in-an-aluminum-tube nature of flying), Canadian airlines are NOT legally responsible for anyone's comfort or enjoyment.

The answer is to lobby the federal government to enact legislation similar to what was thrown out.