Soon Ja Chun ex rel. Bernard Jung Kim v. Korean Airlines Co.

Plaintiffs Soon Ja Chun, Bernard Jung Kim, and Elizabeth Bahn (“Plaintiffs”), acting individually and on behalf of those similarly situated, appeal the dismissal of their putative class action asserting antitrust claims against Defendants Korean Air Lines Co., Ltd. and Asiana Airlines, Inc. (“Defendants” or “Korean Air and Asiana”). Before its dismissal, their case was one of many similar suits pending against Defendants on the same multidistrict litigation docket. Plaintiffs allege that the fares they paid for airline tickets were unlawfully excessive, in violation of both state and federal antitrust and consumer protection laws. The district court dismissed Plaintiffs’ state law claims as preempted by federal law and denied Plaintiffs’ motion to amend their complaint to add federal claims, effectively extinguishing Plaintiffs’ case. Thereafter, Plaintiffs’ complaint was dismissed with prejudice.

We have jurisdiction, pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1291 , to review the district court’s dismissal. We hold, as a matter of first impression, that the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, 49 U.S.C. § 41713 , preempts state regulation of foreign air carriers, and we affirm the district…