In In re Delta Air Lines, Inc., a California federal district court held that the plaintiffs' claims arising under state law negligence theories were impliedly field preempted by the Federal Aviation Regulations ("FARs") addressing various aspects of in-flight procedures. The case arose when an airliner dumped fuel as it was returning to the departure airfield for an emergency landing after experiencing a compressor stall in one of its two engines shortly after takeoff. The plaintiffs were residents who owned properties allegedly damaged by the released fuel. In addition to the negligence claims against the airline, the plaintiffs also alleged non-negligence torts including trespass, nuisance, ultrahazardous activities, and battery.
The airline filed a motion to dismiss in which it argued that "federal law provides the exclusive standards for determining air carrier liability for alleged flight safety violations." The court agreed to dismiss the plaintiffs' negligence-based claims, finding the field of air safety (including the fuel jettisoning at issue here) was impliedly preempted by the FARs addressing fuel jettison and the relevant guidance contained in the airline's FAA-approved flight manual. The court did not dismiss the non-negligence claims, reasoning that it was not yet clear whether the airline could be liable on those claims even if it complied with the federal standard of care – in other words, the court found that a conflict between state and federal law was not yet apparent. The court also found that the non-negligence claims were not expressly preempted by the Airline Deregulation Act because the flight path was not a standard "route" flown by the airline. The court granted the plaintiffs leave to amend the negligence claims in the operative complaint following a subsequent determination of the applicable federal standard of care.
While preemption of state law products liability claims has been the most contentiously litigated and well-publicized area of aviation preemption law in recent years, it is important to remember that courts generally hold that in-air operations (i.e., from gear up to touchdown) are subject to a federal standard of care, and thus claims arising from alleged in-air safety violations often are ripe for arguments that state law standards of care must give way to those set forth in the FARs.
In re Delta Air Lines, Inc., 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 253478 (C.D. Cal. Nov. 19, 2021).
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