In its July 9 decision in Tweed-New Haven Airport Authority
v. Tong, __ F. 3d. __, 2019, WL 2932588 (2d Cir. 2019), the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed its position
that the Federal Aviation Act, 49 U.S.C. § 40101, et
seq. (the FAAct) impliedly preempts the entire field of air
safety. This decision may have a significant impact not only with
respect to the issue specifically addressed—airport
design—but also with respect to other aspects of air safety,
including design defect claims in aviation product liability
cases.
Tweed's 5,600-foot-long primary runway—Runway
2/20—is one of the shortest commercial airport runways in the
country. Runway length directly impacts the type of planes that can
use the runway, as well as weight load and passenger capacity for a
given flight. At Runway 2/20's current length, American
Airlines—the only commercial airline service at
Tweed—is required to leave a certain number of seats
unoccupied to safely fly into
