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Stevens, J., dissenting
methods of competition in commerce." 52 Stat. 111, codified at 15 U. S. C. § 45(a)(1). Three months later it enacted the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938. § 411, 52 Stat. 1003. That statute created the Civil Aeronautics Board and mandated that it regulate entry into the interstate airline industry, the routes that airlines could fly, and the fares that they could charge consumers.2 52 Stat. 987-994. Moreover, the statute contained a provision, patterned after § 5 of the FTCA, giving the Civil Aeronautics Board the power to prohibit "unfair or deceptive practices or unfair methods of competition in air transportation." 52 Stat. 1003; see also American Airlines, Inc. v. North American Airlines, Inc., 351 U. S. 79, 82 (1956). But the Board's power in this regard was not exclusive, for the statute also contained a "saving clause" that preserved existing common-law and statutory remedies for deceptive practices.3 See 52 Stat. 1027; Nader v. Allegheny Airlines, Inc., 426 U. S. 290, 298-300 (1976).
Although the 1938 Act was replaced by a similar regulatory scheme in 1958,4 the principal provisions of the statute remained in effect until 1978. In that year, Congress decided to withdraw economic regulation of interstate airline rates, routes, and services. Congress therefore enacted the ADA "to encourage, develop, and attain an air transportation system which relies on competitive market forces to determine the quality, variety, and price of air services." H. R. Conf. Rep. No. 95-1779, p. 53 (1978). Because that goal would obviously have been frustrated if state regulations
2 The Civil Aeronautics Board was created and established under the name "Civil Aeronautics Authority," but was redesignated as the "Civil Aeronautics Board" by Reorganization Plan No. IV of 1940. See 49 U. S. C. App. § 1321(a)(1) (1982 ed.), repealed effective January 1, 1985, by 49 U. S. C. App. § 1551(a)(3).
3 Section 1106 of the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938 provided: "Nothing contained in this Act shall in any way abridge or alter the remedies now existing at common law or by statute, but the provisions of this Act are in addition to such remedies." 52 Stat. 1027.
4 Federal Aviation Act of 1958, Pub. L. 85-726, 72 Stat. 731.
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