The doctrine of federal preemption probably was the last thing on Jamie Baltus’s mind when she bought tickets for her and her young son to fly from Chicago to Cairo on Turkish Airlines.
But when war broke out in the Middle East, she asked her airline for a refund. And it refused.
So Baltus, a veterinary hospital manager from Montello, Wis., turned to the Department of Transportation (DOT), the agency that’s supposed to protect airline passengers.
Beyond giving her an automated response and a case number, it didn’t help her either.
“I don’t know what else to do,” Baltus says.
In the last two years, as federal agencies have taken a back seat to enforcing consumer protection laws, states and even cities have stepped forward to lend a hand where they can. But the airline industry is one place where they can’t. Federal preemption, a rule holding that federal law beats state law when the two are in conflict, effectively bars states from protecting airline passengers.
When the DOT dismissed Baltus’ request for help, it meant she was out of options. Her airline got to keep the $1,808 she’d spent on her tickets.
It’s time for that to change.
Washington has all but stopped protecting consumers
In January, DOT rewrote its own enforcement policy. Its Office of Aviation Consumer Protection announced it would focus on “helping” airlines comply rather than penalizing them for breaking the rules. Warning letters first, fines maybe later.
It kept that promise. The government hasn’t assessed a single civil penalty this year against an airline for a consumer violation. It waived the $11 million Southwest Airlines still owed for the 2022 holiday meltdown that stranded millions. So far, the government has forgiven close to $28 million.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is on the same trajectory. It has proposed supervising nonbank companies only when there’s a high likelihood of “significant” harm to consumers, and it moved to strip consumer education and financial literacy out of its penalty fund.
States are picking up the slack
Trenton went first this summer. On June 15, Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed an executive order telling every New Jersey agency to hunt down hidden charges in housing, travel, financial services and ticketing. Attorney General Jennifer Davenport put out an enforcement statement warning companies that the state’s existing fraud law already reaches most junk fees.
California built something even bigger. Its new Business and Consumer Services Agency opened July 1 under Rohit Chopra, who ran the CFPB from 2021 to 2025 and sat on the Federal Trade Commission before that. He now oversees California’s financial protection, consumer affairs and real estate departments from a single chair.
Chopra isn’t being subtle about what he wants. Last month, he asked Californians to send him tips about dishonest pricing, inflated fees and undisclosed kickbacks. Federal regulators, he wrote, are turning a blind eye to illegal upcharges that all of us pay for.
Then there are the cities. New York’s click-to-cancel rule takes effect Oct. 1, the first of its kind at the municipal level. Its proposed junk fee ban carries fines starting at $350 per violation and takes direct aim at service charges, processing fees and destination fees, formerly known as resort fees — the mandatory extras hotels add to your bill after you click the “buy” button.
California, Minnesota and Virginia have fee disclosure laws on the books. Colorado and Connecticut are coming online. Massachusetts has new consumer regulations, too.
Call it ZIP Code justice. Your consumer rights now depend on your mailing address.
But it doesn’t extend to the airport
To figure out why airlines are off-limits, let’s get back to Baltus in Wisconsin.
The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 bars states from enforcing any law related to the price, route or service of an air carrier. The Supreme Court has read that clause about as broadly as it can be read. Wisconsin’s attorney general can go after a used car dealer or a gym that won’t let anyone cancel. But Turkish Airlines — any airline — is exempt.
So the one industry that perfected the junk fee, the one that invented paying extra to sit next to your own kid, is the only industry your state can’t reach. Every other business in America has to answer to an attorney general or local law enforcement. But airlines answer to an agency that has stopped writing tickets.
State attorneys general saw this coming. In 2022, 38 of them, Republicans and Democrats, asked Congress to let states enforce consumer laws against airlines. Congress passed a five-year Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill in 2024 and left that out of both chambers’ versions. DOT offered a consolation prize instead: a partnership letting state attorneys general refer airline complaints for “priority” review. Refer them where? Back to DOT.
The fix has been sitting there since 2017
It’s Section 211 of the Airline Passengers’ Bill of Rights, titled “No preemption of consumer protection claims.” One section would let your state sue your airline. The bill has been introduced in nearly every Congress for the last nine years and has never gone anywhere.
I keep waiting for Washington to fix it so I can tell readers like Baltus that there is hope for them.
So when a hotel or car rental company takes you for a ride this summer, skip the federal complaint form and file with your state attorney general, where a human being will read it. When an airline does it, you have my sympathy and a suggestion.
Ask whoever’s asking for your vote this fall why your ZIP Code protects you everywhere except your airline seat.
Have a question about this story? Tell us what happened — we read every comment.
Join the conversation
