FlightAware drops Kalshi lawsuit after one-day standoff over flight-cancellation markets
FlightAware withdrew its lawsuit against Kalshi on Tuesday, one day after filing. The flight-tracking company had accused Kalshi of using its data and trademark without authorization to run flight-cancellation prediction markets. FlightAware also alleged the markets could incentivize unsafe tactics to disrupt air travel. No reason was given for the abrupt dismissal. At least one Kalshi contract was changed to list a generic source for cancellation data after the suit was filed.
The dismissal lets Kalshi avoid a parallel legal front while it fights state gambling cases in Wisconsin, Utah, and New York. Aviation contracts were already a thin niche with weak trader interest. Kalshi can now refocus legal spend on the preemption battles that threaten its core sports and political markets.
The quick exit suggests FlightAware lacked appetite for a prolonged fight, or that Kalshi's contract change defused the immediate dispute. For traders, the episode is a reminder that off-exchange event contracts face legal pressure from unexpected directions, not just gambling regulators. Kalshi's broader vulnerability remains state-level enforcement that fragments contract validity by geography.
Joins a widening assault on Kalshi's federal preemption defense that now spans New York, Wisconsin, Utah, and Minnesota, with state courts increasingly treating CFTC registration as a decorative federal label rather than a shield.