A flight attendant on a Spirit Airlines flight asked a passenger
seated in an emergency exit row to stop using his cell phone while
she conducted the exit row safety briefing. The parties disagreed
about whether the passenger complied with the instruction, and gave
conflicting accounts of the ensuing interactions between the
passenger and the crew. The passenger eventually deplaned before
the flight departed, though the parties disputed whether he did so
voluntarily.
The passenger brought a pro se lawsuit against Spirit in the
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
("SDNY"). The passenger pled several tort claims, as well
as claims for breach of contract and breach of the implied covenant
of good faith and fair dealing. Spirit sought summary judgment on
the grounds that the Airline Deregulation Act ("ADA"),
which expressly preempts any state law "related to a price,
route, or service of an air carrier," preempted the
passenger's claims.
