Opinion ID: 3195507
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Federal Aviation Act

Text: As we have explained, although the federal government has overseen certain aspects of aviation, such as air traffic control and pilot certification, since the early days of flight, see Air Commerce Act of 1926, ch. 344, 44 Stat. 568, there was little question when the Civil Aeronautics Act was adopted in 1938 that common law standards governed tort claims arising from plane crashes, see, e.g., CurtissWright Flying Serv., 66 F.2d at 711-13 (applying the common law standard for negligence). It is therefore significant that the Federal Aviation Act, which succeeded the Civil Aeronautics Act and remains the foundation of federal aviation law today, contains no express preemption provision. In fact, it says only that the FAA may establish “minimum standards” for aviation safety, 49 U.S.C. § 44701—statutory language the Supreme Court has held in other contexts to be insufficient on its own to support a finding of clear and manifest congressional intent of preemption, see Fla. Lime & Avocado Growers, Inc. v. Paul, 373 U.S. 132, 145 (1963); see also Ray v. Atl. Richfield Co., 435 U.S. 151, 168 n.19 (1978); Abdullah, 181 F.3d at 373-74; Cleveland, 985 F.2d at 1445. Further, the Federal Aviation Act contains a “savings clause,” which provides that “[a] remedy under this part is in addition to any other remedies provided by law.”8 49 U.S.C. § 40120(c) (emphasis added). The Supreme Court observed 8 There is no question that state law provides remedies for products liability claims. See, e.g., Tincher v. Omega Flex, Inc., 104 A.3d 328 (Pa. 2014). 24 that this statutory scheme permits states to retain their traditional regulatory power over aspects of aviation. See Morales v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 504 U.S. 374, 378-79 (1992) (noting that the Federal Aviation Act’s savings clause permitted the States to regulate intrastate airfares and enforce their own laws against deceptive trade practices prior to the 1978 enactment of the Airline Deregulation Act, which did expressly preempt state laws relating to the rates, routes, or services of an air carrier). While the inclusion of the savings clause “is not inconsistent” with a requirement that courts apply federal standards of care when adjudicating state law claims, Abdullah, 181 F.3d at 374-75, it belies Appellees’ argument that Congress demonstrated a clear and manifest intent to preempt state law products liability claims altogether. Whereas Appellees must show a clear and manifest congressional intent to overcome the presumption against preemption, they instead have mustered scant evidence and, at best, have demonstrated ambiguity. For example, they discuss § 601 of the Federal Aviation Act, which empowers the FAA to promulgate regulations “to promote safety of flight of civil aircraft in air commerce by prescribing . . . minimum standards governing the design, materials, workmanship, construction, and performance of aircraft, aircraft engines, and propellers as may be required in the interest of safety.” Federal Aviation Act of 1958, Pub. L. No. 85-726, § 601(a)(1), 72 Stat. 731, 775. Yet, that provision, along with § 603, which provides the statutory framework for the issuance of type certificates, was adopted verbatim from the 1938 Civil Aeronautics Act, id. § 603; see H.R. Rep. No. 85-2360, at 16 (1958), which clearly did not preempt state law products liability claims, see supra, Part III.B. Neither 25 the Federal Aviation Act nor subsequent amendments substantially changed this statutory framework. See Revision of Title 49, United States Code Annotated, “Transportation,” Pub. L. No. 103-272, 108 Stat. 745 (1994); see also H.R. Rep. No. 103-180, at 343-44 (1993) (discussing changes to the statutory provisions governing the issuance of type certificates as words “added for clarity” and “omitted as surplus”). Appellees thus present no evidence from the Federal Aviation Act’s text or extensive legislative history that plausibly suggests Congress intended these same provisions to have a different meaning in the 1958 Act than they had in the 1938 Act. Simply put, if Congress had wanted to change the preemptive effect of the type certification process, it would have done so—or at least given some indication of that intention. It did not. The Federal Aviation Act itself therefore does not signal an intent to preempt state law products liability claims.