Morales v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 504 U.S. 374, 53 (1992)

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426

MORALES v. TRANS WORLD AIRLINES, INC.

Stevens, J., dissenting

for, any air carrier . . . ." S. 2493, § 423(a)(1), reprinted in S. Rep. No. 95-631, p. 39 (1978). The Senate Report explained that this section "prohibits States from exercising economic regulatory control over interstate airlines." Id., at 98.

The Conference Report explained that the Conference adopted the House bill (with an exception not relevant here), which it described in the more narrow terms used in the House Report. H. R. Conf. Rep. No. 95-1779, pp. 94-95 (1978). There is, therefore, no indication that the conferees thought the House's "relating to" language would have a broader pre-emptive scope than the Senate's "determining . . . or otherwise promulgate economic regulation" language.6 Nor is there any indication that the House and conferees thought that the pre-emption of state laws "relating to rates, routes, or services" pre-empted substantially more than state laws "regulating rates, routes, or services."

IV

Even if I were to agree with the Court that state regulation of deceptive advertising could "relat[e] to rates" within the meaning of § 105(a) if it had a "significant impact" upon rates, ante, at 390, I would still dissent. The airlines' theoretical arguments have not persuaded me that the NAAG guidelines will have a significant impact upon the price of airline tickets. The airlines' argument (which the Court adopts, ante, at 388-390) is essentially that (1) airlines must engage in price discrimination in order to compete and operate efficiently; (2) a modest amount of misleading price advertising may facilitate that practice; (3) thus compliance with the NAAG guidelines might increase the cost of price advertising or reduce the sales generated by the advertise-6 Because the Court overlooks the phrase "or otherwise promulgate economic regulations" in the Senate bill, see ante, at 385-386, n. 2, it incorrectly assumes that the Senate bill had a narrower pre-emptive scope than the House bill.

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