Polansky v. Trans World Airlines, Inc.

523 F.2d 332
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedSeptember 9, 1975
DocketNos. 75-1088, 75-1565
StatusPublished
Cited by36 cases

This text of 523 F.2d 332 (Polansky v. Trans World Airlines, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Polansky v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 523 F.2d 332 (3d Cir. 1975).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

JAMES HUNTER, III, Circuit Judge:

In this case we must decide whether airline passengers who were furnished allegedly inferior ground accommodations in a tour, sponsored by a Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) regulated air carrier, can maintain an action against the air carrier on the basis of 49 U.S.C. § 1374(b) and § 1381, § 404 and § 411 of the Federal Aviation Act.1 Given the facts of this case, we hold that a private cause of action may not be implied from these statutes. Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) dismissal of the complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.2

I

Plaintiff-appellants were members of a European tour sponsored by defendant airline, Trans World Airlines, Inc. (TWA) and' defendant travel agency, Melia Tours, Inc. They allege that TWA and Melia supplied services different than those warranted in literature, advertising the “Flamenco” tour of Spain and Portugal and that by this advertising, defendants fraudulently induced them to participate in the tour. Plaintiffs specifically charge that their “first-class” hotel accommodations were inferior to tourist accommodations provided to other members of the tour at lesser cost; that preplanned inter-city travel services were inadequate, that pre-arranged reservations were broken or not honored; and that promised tour guides, hosts and hostesses were not available.

As the basis of the suit,3 plaintiff-appellants relied on two sections of the Federal Aviation Act. 49 U.S.C. § 1374(b), § 404 of the Act, specifically prohibits discrimination by any regulated air carrier. 49 U.S.C. § 1381, § 411 of the Act, in turn, gives the CAB power to investigate and enjoin unfair or deceptive practices. Since neither section provides for private enforcement, plaintiffs sought to imply a private cause of action for damages from these statutes. The district court held that it would be inappropriate to imply a private remedy from § 1374(b) on the facts of this case.4 In reaching this result, the court distinguished a series of precedents in which a private remedy had been implied from § 1374(b). Without further consideration of the issues raised by § 1381, the district court granted defendant-appellees Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss.5 The instant appeal followed.

[334]*334II

In determining whether a private remedy is implicit in a statute not • expressly providing for one, the Supreme Court has indicated that at least four factors must be considered. Cort v. Ash, 422 U.S. 66, 78, 95 S.Ct. 2080, 45 L.Ed.2d 26 (1975).6 Specifically, a court must consider: first, whether the statute was designed to protect a class of persons into which plaintiff falls from the harm plaintiff has suffered; second, whether there is any indication of legislative intent to create or deny a private remedy; third, whether' implication of a private remedy would be consistent with the purposes of the legislative scheme; and fourth, whether the cause of action is one traditionally relegated to state law such that inference of a federal cause of action would be inappropriate. See also: National Rail Passenger Corp. v. National Association of Rail Passengers, 414 U.S. 453, 94 S.Ct. 690, 38 L.Ed.2d 646 (1974) (Amtrak)7 and Securities Investor Protection Corporation v. Barbour, 421 U.S. 412, 95 S.Ct. 1733, 44 L.Ed.2d 263 (1975) (SIPC).8

A. 49 U.S.C. § 1874(b)

49 U.S.C. § 1374(b) provides:

No air carrier or foreign air carrier shall make, give, or cause any undue or unreasonable preference or advantage to any particular person, port, locality, or description of traffic in air transportation in any respect whatsoever or subject any particular person, [335]*335port, locality, or description of traffic in air transportation to any unjust discrimination or any undue or unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage in any respect whatsoever. (Emphasis added).

On its face, the statute prohibits an air carrier from unjustly discriminating or acting with prejudice against any person in air transportation. Although § 1374(b) is silent about private enforcement, courts have implied a private remedy for a variety of acts by the air carrier, including racial discrimination,9 and bumping in violation of the airline’s own standards.10

It would be a mistake to assume, however, that the implication of a private remedy from § 1374(b) in these cases requires that a private remedy exists for all alleged violations of the act. In our view, each new category of conduct alleged to violate § 1374(b) must be tested against the standards stated by the Supreme Court in Cort v. Ash, supra. The cases previously decided under § 1374(b), however, are illustrative of the kinds of conduct the statute seeks to prevent.

With respect to the first Cort test, we note that plaintiff-appellants, as air passengers, are clearly members of the class § 1374(b) was designed to protect. § 1374(b) prohibits the airline from prejudicing “any . . . person . in air transportation. . . . ” The decided cases have uniformly held that air passengers may rely on § 1374(b).11 Although members of the proper class, plaintiff-appellants did not suffer the harm the statute was designed to prevent.

In our view, the statute aims to protect the right of access to air facilities from discriminatory interference by the air carrier. The airline is required to treat all potential passengers and users equally. Thus, the airline may not prohibit minority groups from equal access to flights or terminal facilities.12 Simi[336]*336larly, although bumping is not a per se violation of § 1374(b), the airline may not bump in a discriminatory manner violative of the airline’s published standards. In all of the cases in which a private remedy has been implied from § 1374(b) there was a discriminatory denial of access to air facilities. In our view, it is this denial of access to air facilities, whether caused directly, by outright refusal of permission to board, or indirectly, by burdening the potential user with special requirements not applied to the general public, which is critical.

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523 F.2d 332, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/polansky-v-trans-world-airlines-inc-ca3-1975.