William D. West v. Northwest Airlines, Inc.

The Supreme Court remanded this case — U.S. -, 112 S.Ct. 2932 , 119 L.Ed.2d 558 , — U.S.-, 112 S.Ct. 2986 , 120 L.Ed.2d 864 , to us for further consideration in light of Morales v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 504 U.S.-, 112 S.Ct. 2031 , 119 L.Ed.2d 157 (1992). We hereby withdraw our previous Opinion in this case, filed as amended February 5, 1991, and substitute this Opinion.

Plaintiff-appellant, William D. West (“West”), purchased a ticket to travel on Northwest Airlines, Inc. (“Northwest”). Northwest overbooked West’s flight and refused to allow West to board the plane. West brought this action against Northwest for breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing under Montana law. The district court granted summary judgment for Northwest on the ground that West’s claim was preempted by the Federal Aviation Act. We now affirm in part and reverse in part, and we remand to the district court to determine whether West has a meritorious claim for compensatory damages under Montana law.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On September 3, 1986, West purchased a non-refundable, non-changeable ticket to travel on Northwest from Great Falls, Montana to Arlington, Virginia. His…

concurring in part and dissenting in part:

This panel previously ruled on West’s claim for compensatory and punitive damages under Montana law. West v. Northwest Airlines, 923 F.2d 657 (9th Cir.1991). In that opinion, we held that West’s claim for punitive damages was preempted by the Airline Deregulation Act (“ADA”), § 1305(a)(1) of the FAA, but that his claim for compensatory damages was not. 923 F.2d at 660 . The Supreme Court vacated that opinion and remanded the case for reconsideration in light of Morales v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 504 U.S. -, 112 S.Ct. 2031 , 119 L.Ed.2d 157 (1992).

The majority now reaches the same result as in the original opinion which the Court vacated. Although I concur in the holding that West’s claim for punitive damages is preempted by the ADA, I cannot agree that

*153 his claim for compensatory damages under state law is not also preempted in light of Morales .

The majority arrives at this result by seizing on the caveat at the end of the Morales opinion that despite the Court’s holding (that the fare advertising guidelines of the .National Association of Attorneys General are preempted by the ADA), there may still be some state actions…

995 F.2d 148 61 USLW 2765 William D. WEST, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. NORTHWEST AIRLINES, INC., Defendant-Appellee. No. 89-35820. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. June 3, 1993. Cornish F. Hitchcock, Public Citizen Litigation Group, Washington, DC, for plaintiff-appellant. John N. Romans, Mark Dombroff, Lawrence Rosen, and John Henderson, Katten Muchin Zavis & Dombroff, New York City, for defendant-appellee. On Remand from the United States Supreme Court. Before HUG, D.W. NELSON, and BRUNETTI, Circuit Judges. D.W. NELSON, Circuit Judge: 1 The Supreme Court remanded this case --- U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 2932 , 119 L.Ed.2d 558 , --- U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 2986 , 120 L.Ed.2d 864 , to us for further consideration in light of Morales v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 504 U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 2031 , 119 L.Ed.2d 157 (1992). We hereby withdraw our previous Opinion in this case, filed as amended February 5, 1991, and substitute this Opinion. 2 Plaintiff-appellant, William D. West ("West"), purchased a ticket to travel on Northwest Airlines, Inc. ("Northwest"). Northwest overbooked West's flight and refused to allow West to board the plane. West brought this action against Northwest…