HR - Airline Industry

Executive Summary: The Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) has recently proposed a potentially costly rule requiring repair stations located outside the United States to implement programs for drug and alcohol testing of employees who perform maintenance work on US-based aircraft in domestic and

Executive Summary : What employees qualify as “transportation workers” such that they are exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA)? The Second Circuit endeavored to answer that question on May 5, 2022, in an important case for employers. Bissonnette v. LePage Bakeries Park St., LLC (2d Cir. 202

Do an airline’s ramp workers qualify as “transportation workers” exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA)?

On November 2, 2021, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding flight attendant duty period limitations and rest requirements. The NPRM was mandated by the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, 49 U.S.C. §44701, Note at Section 335. In the FAA Re

Executive Summary: The Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) has published a final rule to transition from the Pilot Records Improvement Act (“PRIA”) to the electronic Pilot Records Database. The rule is effective August 9, 2021.

Acclaimed actor Samuel L. Jackson put it best when he exclaimed in a 2006 film: “Enough is enough. I have had it with these [expletive] snakes on this [same expletive] plane.” With its final rule under the Air Carrier Access Act, entitled “Traveling by Air with Service Animals,” the

Executive Summary: On October 11, 2019, a federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington ruled that Washington state’s paid sick leave law does not violate the Constitution or federal preemption law, thereby guaranteeing sick leave benefits for airline flight crew e

Executive Summary: On August 20, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) announced it will hold a meeting on October 8, 2019 in Washington, D.C., for the purpose of soliciting public comments from stakeholders on issues pertaining to whistleblower

Executive Summary: The United States Supreme Court recently denied petitions to consider two U.S. Court of Appeals decisions adversely affecting the airline industry. On June 24, 2019, the Justices declined to review a Seventh Circuit ruling that allowed flight attendants to sue an airline based on

Executive Summary: As previously reported, the National Mediation Board (“NMB”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) setting forth a proposal to amend its rules regarding the decertification of labor unions under the Railway Labor Act (“RLA”). On February 28, 2019, the NMB announced it wi

Executive Summary: On January 31, 2019, the National Mediation Board (NMB) published a proposed rule and request for comments to amend its regulations to provide for decertification of labor unions. The NMB’s stated goal is to provide a “more straight-forward process” for decertification that puts e

Executive Summary: The #MeToo movement has now touched nearly every U.S. workplace, and the airline industry is no exception. The impact of the anti-harassment movement on airlines, however, is unique because of the independent nature of much of its workforce and the highly regulated nature of the i

Executive Summary: On July 26, 2016, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that Menzies Aviation (USA), Inc. (Menzies) fell under its jurisdiction. In resolving a recurring dispute as to whether ground operations provided to air carriers by non-carriers fall within the jurisdiction of the

Executive Summary: On September 21, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held that the Airline Deregulation Act (ADA) does not preempt Miami-Dade County's Living Wage Ordinance (LWO). Amerijet Int'l, Inc. v. Miami-Dade Cnty., No. 14-11401 (11th Cir. Sept. 21, 2015). This means th

Executive Summary: In a decision that is good news for airline employers, a federal trial court in Minnesota has held that the state drug-testing statute, which prohibits discharging an employee the first time the employee fails a drug test, is preempted by federal law and the Federal Aviation Admin

Executive Summary: In a 5-4 decision, the Washington State Supreme Court has held that Proposition 1 – an ordinance which increased the minimum wage within the city of SeaTac for employees in the hospitality and transportation industries to $15 an hour – is also enforceable at the Sea-Tac Airport. F

Executive Summary: In a unanimous decision, a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed a preliminary injunction arising out of an airline's alleged violation of the status quo provisions of the Railway Labor Act (RLA). Int'l Bhd. Of Teamsters, Airline Division v. Al

Executive Summary: Airlines achieved a major victory on May 19, 2015, with an order from the Central District of California granting Southwest Airlines Co.'s motion to dismiss in McKinley v. Southwest Airlines Co., United States District Court, Central District of California Case No. 2:15-cv-02939-A

Yesterday, Douglas Hall, a partner in the Airline Group of FordHarrison, appeared before an en banc panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to defend an injunction obtained on behalf of Aircraft Service International, Inc. against a strike threatened by some of its non-union employees at th

Executive Summary: The Ninth Circuit has held that the Federal Aviation Act (FAA) preempts state law wrongful termination claims where their resolution would require "the factfinder to intrude upon the federally occupied field of aviation safety by deciding questions of pilot medical standards and q