LAX Labor Rules Aren’t Blocked by Federal Law

Federal labor law and airline deregulation don’t bar the city of Los Angeles from including provisions relating to workplace matters when it grants licenses to businesses that want to operate at LAX Airport, a federal appeals court ruled.

Two business groups challenged the practice on the grounds that the provisions were, in effect, municipal regulations that were pre-empted by federal law.

The statutes that the groups cited bar municipal airline labor regulations but don’t prohibit the city from engaging in business contracts or managing property in the way a private entity would operate in the airport market, Judge Michelle T. ...