International legal mechanisms for ensuring the responsibility of the air carrier before the passenger

Abstract

Liability to passengers and cargo owners for damage caused during international air transportation is primarily borne by the carrier. From the content of the Warsaw and Montreal Conventions, it follows that the carrier can be any natural or legal person who has concluded a contract of carriage with the passenger or the consignor of the cargo and carries out this carriage on a remuneration basis. Reasons are required for the carrier to be liable as a party performing the contract. The plaintiff, who demands compensation, must prove the fact of breach of obligation by his counterparty, the presence and amount of damage, as well as the cause-and- effect relationship between the offense and the damage. However, the defendant (carrier) has the right to prove the absence of his fault and refer to the limitation of his liability. The Warsaw (1929) and Montreal (2009) conventions contain relatively detailed and fairly clear instructions on the carrier’s liability, establishing the grounds for exemption from it and, in most cases, limiting its size by the so-called relaxations in the air carrier’s liability regime. Like the norms of the internal transport legislation of the states, the norms of the conventions are of an imperative nature, with equal protection of the interests of consumers of services provided by transport organizations, and even the complexity of transport operation technologies, the mass of operations and the risks associated with the use of vehicles. This article examines the question of the extent to which international conventions and rules determining the liability of air carrier passengers have been successfully harmonized at the international level and eliminated the conflict of law problem, as well as the degree of development and effectiveness of these international conventions and rules, norms for ensuring the liability of air carriers to air passengers. Summarizing, the author notes that the Montreal Convention improves the situation of passengers and cargo owners, eliminates complications with lengthy court processes, to the advantage of the Warsaw Convention, which is somewhat outdated and does not correspond to today’s realities. The new convention strengthens competition in the air transport market, increases the responsibility of airlines to passengers and removes restrictions on compensation for loss of baggage or damage to the life and health of passengers, significantly simplifying the mechanism of obtaining it.