Civil Rights (Safety Standards in Commercial Aviation‪)‬

First Circuit Incorrectly Adopts Arbitrary-or-Capricious Standard for Reviewing Airliner's Decision to Remove Passengers--Cerqueira v. American Airlines, Inc., 520 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2008), cert. denied, 129 S. Ct. 111 (2008) In response to increasing acts of piracy on commercial airlines, Congress enacted the Federal Aviation Act (FAA), which established regulations to improve and maintain safety standards in commercial aviation. (1) Although the FAA includes an anti-discrimination provision, section 44902(b) of the Act grants air carriers broad discretion to refuse transportation to any passenger a "carrier decides is, or might be inimical to safety." (2) In Cerqueira v. American Airlines, Inc., (3) the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, in a case of first impression, considered the proper standard for a passenger's discrimination claim against an air carrier that relies on the protection under section 44902(b) to refuse passengers transportation. (4) The First Circuit held that the plaintiff passenger must show the air carrier's decision to refuse transportation and rebooking is arbitrary or capricious based on the information known to the decision-maker at the time of the refusal. (5)