Navigating the Turbulence: The First Circuit Clarifies the Preemptive Scope of the Airline Deregulation Act in Brown v. Unived Airlines

Abstract

On July 9, 2013, in Brown v. United Airlines, Inc., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that the Airline Deregulation Act (“ADA”) preempted skycaps’ common law tortious interference and unjust enrichment claims. In so holding, the First Circuit articulated a two-pronged test in an attempt to provide clarity to the relationship between the savings clause and the preemption clause of the ADA. This Comment argues that the First Circuit’s two-pronged test is faithful to U.S. Supreme Court jurisprudence and should serve as a model for other federal appeals courts until the Supreme Court provides additional guidance.