THE WARSAW AND MONTREAL CONVENTIONS

Arizona’s airports in Phoenix and Tucson send and receive passengers, baggage, and freight to and from destinations all over the world. In fact, Arizona has seven foreign trade zones (FTZ’s) in which products and components from abroad can be stored tariff-free before final disposition. However, where a flight is bound to or from an international destination, Arizona law does not apply to damages or injuries sustained during the trip. Instead, the Warsaw Convention, a treaty in effect in the United States since the 1930’s, governs the rights of shippers and passengers who use international flights. As more passengers and cargo move between Arizona and the rest of the world, the importance of the Warsaw Convention and subsequent international protocols increases.

The Warsaw Convention’s procedures apply whether a passenger has a claim for personal injury or death during an international flight, or a claim for damage to baggage or freight shipped on an international flight. Determining precisely when a passenger or shipper’s claim is governed exclusively by the Convention, rather than local law, can be very complicated. While American courts have been called upon to interpret the Convention for over seventy years, the Convention’s official text is in French, which can require extensive research and discovery to properly interpret while a lawsuit is ongoing. Parties should not rely solely upon English versions of the Convention since these are merely translations. For example, the United States and the United Kingdom actually have different official translations of the Convention.

Where the Warsaw Convention applies, it determines where a person can sue, within what time-limits, and after what types of notice to the carrier. The Convention ultimately governs the limits of an air carrier’s monetary liability, and the sorts of defenses a carrier can raise to avoid liability. At least a third of the world’s countries, including the United States, have ratified the newer Montreal Convention, which changes many of the rules created by the Warsaw Convention and its protocols. The Montreal Convention is meant to unify and streamline the global system for resolving international air transport claims. However, since many countries have not yet ratified the Montreal Convention, carriers, shippers, and passengers in the United States should be aware that either treaty could apply to their transactions.

Once a court in Arizona has determined that a case involves international carriage of persons, baggage, or goods, the parties will need to be certain their attorneys are familiar with the workings of both conventions and any subsequent protocols or intercarrier agreements, to avoid forfeiting their rights and defenses.

THIS DOCUMENT WAS PREPARED FOR GENERAL INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE LEGAL ADVICE