Labor-Law Conflicts for Flight Crews Add to Airlines’ Covid Woes

Major airlines including Delta Air Lines Inc., American Airlines Inc., and United Airlines Inc. say a knot of conflicting state, local, and federal requirements governing pay and working conditions for their flight crews are an existential threat to their bottom lines that adds to strains from the Covid-19 pandemic.

A case before the U.S. Supreme Court poses the question of whether a California law guaranteeing rest breaks to flight crews should take precedence over looser federal regulations. The justices asked the U.S. Solicitor General to weigh in, after balking on the question in recent years. That dispute follows ...