The first three decades of the twentieth century were groundbreaking for aviation in a seemingly technologically advanced world. The first airships took to the skies in 1900, and in 1903 the legendary flight of the Wright brothers took place. In February 1914, the world's first passenger flight was made on the Russian aircraft "Ilya Muromets" designed by Sikorsky.
The need to regulate air travel
Over the next three decades, early aviators pushed mankind and airplanes to advances that brought with them an urgent need for the development of legal regulations governing international air travel. Along with the new transport industry - commercial civil aviation - a new section of law was born.
The first such document was the Warsaw Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Air Transportation, whichwas signed in October 1929. It articulates for the first time a set of rules for the nascent international civil aviation industry. The authentic text of the convention is written in French, and to this day, sometimes there are disagreements in the courts in the interpretation of the original text and its translation into English.
Standards set by convention
The Warsaw Convention set standards for the issuance of air tickets to an individual, a registration coupon and a baggage receipt confirming the airline's baggage check-in for delivery to the final destination. An even more important part was the agreed rules and approved standards for compensation for damage caused to a passenger in the event of a tragic flight scenario.
The Air Accident Passenger Injury Standard provides compensation to injured passengers or relatives of those killed in an aviation incident up to a maximum of 8,300 Special Drawing Rights (SDR) convertible into their local currency.
Luggage transferred to the care of airlines is valued at 17 SDRs per kilogram of lost or damaged cargo. The carrier is obliged to compensate for damage caused in the event of death or injury, or any other bodily injury suffered by a passenger, if the event that caused the damage occurred on board the aircraft or during boarding or disembarking.
The Warsaw Convention on International Carriage by Air governs the relationshipcarrier and passenger in cases where the second travels from one country to another. Or if the route is laid out in such a way that the point of departure and destination are located within the same state, but a stop is planned between them in the territory of another country. The convention does not apply to domestic flights. They are governed by the national laws of the countries. In a number of developed countries, the standards for compensation for damage to air passengers often significantly exceed the norms of the convention.
Initially conceived as a means to sustain and develop the international commercial aviation industry, the convention limited maximum limits for passenger compensation in the event of personal injury or death in air crashes.
Amendment history
Since the entry into force of the Warsaw Convention of 1929 on February 13, 1933, its provisions have been the subject of criticism and amendment. The main task - to establish uniform rules governing the rights and responsibilities of international air carriers and passengers, shippers and consignees in the countries participating in the convention, was formally completed.
But there was growing dissatisfaction with the introduction of severe monetary limits on the amount of liability "in order to help the growing international civil aviation", as well as the possibility for the carrier to avoid payments to victims due to force majeure.
The Hague Protocol of 1955
Since the early fifties of the last centuryThe United States has launched a campaign to increase the liability of air carriers for personal injury to passengers and damage or loss of cargo. On September 28, 1955, a protocol was signed in The Hague that doubled the initial maximum limit for compensation for physical harm to a passenger from $8,300 to $16,600.
The protocol provided that the limitation of liability did not apply if the damage was the direct result of the act or omission of the servants or agents of the carrier. In this case, the airline is obliged to pay the affected passengers the full amount of the proven damage.
A significant amendment was the article, according to which the air passenger received the right to recover the amount of legal costs from the carrier company. This protocol introduced the first official amendments to the Warsaw Convention to unify certain rules for international air transport.
1966 Montreal Agreement
Unsatisfied with low compensation limits, the US did not ratify the Hague Protocol and initiated the signing of the Montreal Agreement in 1966 between carriers flying to or from the United States and the US Civil Aviation Authority.
Under the terms of this agreement, compensation for victims of air crashes on flights to or from the United States was increased to $75,000, regardless of whether the accident was caused by the negligence of the carrier. Thus, for the first time in the history of international civil aviation,the concept of an air carrier's absolute obligation to the passenger. True, these changes concerned only US citizens.
After signing the agreement, the US denounced the Warsaw Air Transport Convention of 1929.
Changes 1971-1975
In March 1971, the Guatemalan Protocol was signed, the main concept of which was that the carrier's liability for causing harm to a passenger or baggage became mandatory, regardless of his guilt in the accident. But the protocol never entered into force. He failed to garner the thirty votes required. Subsequently, the main provisions of the Guatemalan Treaty were incorporated into the Montreal Protocol No. 3.
In total, four Montreal Protocols were signed in 1975, amending and supplementing the provisions of the Warsaw Convention on International Carriage by Air. They changed the standards for air waybills, changed the gold standard to the SDR standard for the purposes of calculating universal limits of liability, and raised the maximum compensation limit to $100,000.
In general, the air carrier liability system has become like a patchwork quilt.
Attempts to modernize the Warsaw Convention in the 90s
In the last decade of the 20th century, several attempts were made to modernize the Warsaw system and increase the responsibility of air carriers. National initiatives by a number of countries to amend their domestic air laws have accelerated thisprocess.
Japan, Australia and Italy have adopted unilateral measures, according to which the air carrier bears full responsibility for international traffic in the amount established for companies on domestic airlines. All Nippon Airways has voluntarily announced that as of November 1992, Warsaw System restrictions on flights will be lifted.
The Australian government has also increased the statutory levels of liability in its domestic legislation to $500,000 and extended those requirements to international carriers flying to the Australian continent.
The Commission of the European Union (EU) introduced in March 1996 a Council Regulation on Air Carrier Liability. It was proposed to increase the limits of compensation and the exclusion of any limitations of liability in the event that the fault of the airline in the incident was proved.
1999 Montreal Convention
The Montreal Convention was adopted at a diplomatic meeting of ICAO member states in 1999. It amended important provisions of the Warsaw Convention on Compensation for Victims of Air Disasters.
The signing of the convention is an attempt to restore the uniformity and predictability of the rules concerning the international transport of passengers and goods. While maintaining the fundamental provisions that have served the international air transport community for several decades since the ratification of the Warsaw Convention, the new treaty has modernized a number ofkey provisions.
It protects passengers by introducing a two-tier system of liability, which eliminates the previous requirement to prove the air carrier's malicious violation of safety standards and its guilt in the incident. This should eliminate or reduce lengthy litigation.
The air carrier's liability limit has been established in the absence of its fault in an air crash and all limits have been canceled if the accident is caused by illegal actions or inaction.
In relation to compensation for delayed flights and transportation of goods, the obligation to compensate passengers for damage is established only if this happened through the fault of the carrier.
The Montreal Convention essentially incorporated all the various international treaty regimes covering airline liability that have developed since 1929. It is designed as a single, universal treaty governing the liability of airlines around the world. Its structure follows that of the Warsaw Convention.
The Montreal Convention is a historic private international air law treaty that replaced six different legal instruments known as the Warsaw System.
Current Conventions
The legal regime established by the Warsaw Convention to unify certain rules of 1929 and reinforced by the Montreal Convention of 1999 still regulates commercial aviation by detailing a set of minimum standardizedflight safety procedures. These are standards for air navigation systems, airports and aircraft maintenance to ensure safe and efficient air travel.
The rules established by these conventions also regulate possible claims that may be brought against airlines in connection with the death or injury of passengers, damage and loss of baggage and cargo. It not only limits the time and place requirements for bringing claims, but also excludes the application of national laws if the country has ratified one or both conventions.
With regard to claims for non-pecuniary damage, the convention regime does not allow such claims against an air carrier by passengers.
Collaboration is key
Despite the desire to unify the rules for all participants in international air travel, at the beginning of 2019, only 120 states joined the Montreal Convention.
This means that there are still varying carrier liability regimes around the world. Claims handling and litigation in case of accidents or plane crashes are unnecessarily complicated.
Recognizing the significant benefits that the 1999 Montreal Convention offers, ICAO is actively advocating to encourage countries to ratify it as soon as possible. IATA also supports this resolution and is working with governments to promote the benefits and call for ratification.
Modern air travel regulation
Today, air carrier liability is governed by a combination of international and national laws, which often makes resolving air passenger claims a complex process.
The uniformity dreamed of by the founders of the Warsaw and Montreal conventions of international transport has not been achieved. There are countries that are parties to both, and countries that have not ratified either of the existing conventions.
The Russian Federation announced its accession to the Montreal Convention in April 1917. Ratification of the convention will provide a higher level of compensation to Russian passengers on international flights in case of emergency.
Currently, Russia is amending the Air Code to bring national legislation in line with the provisions of the Montreal Accords. The Warsaw Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for Air Transportation, to which the country is currently a party, will terminate upon ratification of the Montreal Convention.
