Appeals court kills flight attendants’ challenge to electronics on planes

The Association of Flight Attendants had challenged the change, suing Michael Huerta, the administrator of the FAA, along with that agency.

However, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found that the FAA has always had the ability to change rules as it pleases. The FAA had determined that allowing phones, e-readers and other devices were within its purview.

Since allowing the first airlines to let passengers use personal electronic devices (PEDs) since October 2013, the FAA has authorized 31 airlines to do so in total.

As the court found:

In this case, it really does not matter whether Notice N8900.240 is viewed as a policy statement or an interpretive rule. The main point here is that the Notice is not a legislative rule carrying “the force and effect of law.” Perez, 135 S. Ct. at 1204. A legislative rule “modifies or adds to a legal norm based on the agency’s own authority” flowing from a congressional delegation to engage in supplementary lawmaking. Syncor, 127 F.3d at 95.