The State - News from Jan. 22, 1988

A new California law banning smoking on airline flights that begin and end in the state is preempted by federal regulations, the U.S. Transportation Department has ruled. The state law, which took effect on New Year’s Day, prohibits smoking on intrastate plane flights, buses and trains. But the department said in a letter to the Air Transport Assn., the group representing the nation’s airlines, that “the California smoking prohibition is preempted by the federal pre-emption section of the Federal Aviation Act . . . whether they are operating between California points or interstate.” However, congressional legislation to ban smoking on flights of two hours or less is to take effect in April. For that reason, some air carriers, including Pacific Southwest Airlines, said they will continue to ban smoking on California flights despite the federal ruling.