The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld San Francisco’s groundbreaking domestic partner ordinance, which requires certain businesses to offer the same benefits to heterosexual and gay partners of unmarried employees as they offer to married spouses. The court rejected an argument by United Air Lines, FedEx and an airline association that the ordinance, as applied to air carriers at San Francisco International Airport, was preempted by federal transportation laws. Under this and previous court rulings, if the airlines offer benefits such as family leave and travel discounts to employee spouses, these benefits must also be available to domestic partners, excluding health and pension benefits, which are covered by federal laws regulating the airline industry.