Airlines Ramp Up Campaign to Challenge California Law

Airlines want the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down a law that gives California-based flight crews more breaks and rest than crew based elsewhere.

Currently, California-based workers receive a 10-minute break after every four hours worked and a 30-minute meal break after every five hours–even while they are flying.

The airline industry is ramping up its campaign to challenge the law after a study commissioned by an airline trade group warned that the result will mean higher costs for carriers and force them to cut flights and raise airfares, according to the Washington Post.

The trade group wants the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down a 2021 ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

The law could make it complicated for airlines to enforce different rules for different states, meaning there is a patchwork of state rules rather than federal ones governing flight crews.

According to trade group Airlines for America, 19 other states have laws that on employee breaks that could supersede the federal guidelines, making it necessary for the Supreme Court to hear the case.

According to a report from Canadian consulting firm InterVistas, airlines would need additional pilots and flight attendants and may also need to make more frequent stops. The firm estimated it could cost the industry between $3.5 billion and $8.5 billion a year.