Air Transport Management

An International Perspective

Lucy Budd, Stephen Ison, Lucy Budd, Stephen Ison

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9781000052442
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

Air Transport Management: An International Perspective provides in-depth instruction in the diverse and dynamic area of commercial air transport management. The 2nd edition has been extensively revised and updated to reflect the latest developments in the sector.

The textbook includes both introductory reference material and more advanced content so as to provide a solid foundation in the core principles and practices of air transport management. This 2nd edition includes a new chapter on airline regulation and deregulation and new dedicated chapters focusing on aviation safety and aviation security. Four new contributors bring additional insights and expertise to the book.

The 2nd edition retains many of the key features of the 1st edition, including:

• A clearly structured topic-based approach that provides information on key air transport management issues including: aviation law, economics; airport and airline management; finance; environmental impacts, human resource management; and marketing;

• Chapters authored by leading air transport academics and practitioners worldwide which provide an international perspective;

• Learning objectives and key points which provide a framework for learning;

• Boxed case studies and examples in each chapter;

• Keyword definitions and stop and think boxes to prompt reflection and aid understanding of key terms and concepts.

Designed for undergraduate and postgraduate students studying aviation and business management degree programmes and industry practitioners seeking to expand their knowledge base, the book provides a single point of reference to the key legal, regulatory, strategic and operational concepts and processes that shape the form and function of the world's commercial air transport industry.

CHAPTER 1

Aviation law and regulation

Ronald Bartsch and Samantha Lucy Trimby

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• ● To identify the difference between air law and aviation law.
• ● To appreciate the importance of national sovereignty over airspace.
• ● To understand the reasons for, and implications arising from, the Chicago Convention 1944.
• ● To recognise the freedoms of the air.
• ● To describe the scope and purpose of the Warsaw and Montreal conventions.
• ● To determine the extent to which aviation law and regulation shape contemporary air transport operations and management.

1.0 Introduction

It is the freedom and agility by which air transport operations can readily transcend previously restrictive geographic and political boundaries that differentiates flying from other modes of transport. To harness this freedom, aviation regulation provides the requisite authority, responsibility and sanctions. The regulation of aviation is as fundamental and important to the industry as civil order is to modern society.

Irrespective of the particular discipline being studied, it is always desirable to have an understanding of the background and development of how and why the subject matter evolved. In respect to the study of international aviation law, this understanding is essential. No other field of human endeavour or branch of law is as harmonised as the international aviation regulatory regime, and that has occurred only because of the close cooperation of sovereign states collaborating for national and international objectives. The following sections describe the development of the very first aviation laws and explain the motivations and objectives of governments in respect to how aviation was to be regulated. The branch of law that has developed essentially remains unchanged from its humble beginnings because of the unique features and requirements of the international aviation industry.

Almost since its inception, commercial aviation has been subject to stringent legal and regulatory control. This was required for reasons of national security, defence, consumer protection, national economic interest and the protection of life and property. There are early recorded instances involving ballooning accidents in which damage to personal property occurred and the courts were required to pass judgement. One such accident occurred in New York in 1822 (Case Study 1.1).

CASE STUDY 1.1
GUILLE V SWAN, 19 JOHNS 381 (NY SUP CT, 1822), SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK

Mr Guille, the defendant balloonist, landed his balloon in the vicinity of the plaintiff Mr Swan’s garden. When the defendant descended, he was in a dangerous situation and asked for assistance from a person who was working in Swan’s field. The event attracted the attention of hundreds of local residents who, in all the excitement, broke through Swan’s fences and spoiled the plaintiff’s vegetables and flowers. The damage caused to the balloon was minimal, totalling approximately US$15, whereas the damage resulting from the stampede was in the order of US$90. The court held that the defendant was liable for all damages that occurred to the premises as the defendant should have anticipated that his descent and landing would most likely have attracted such a large crowd.

Only six weeks after the commencement of the first regular international passenger air service, 26 states signed the Convention Relating to the Regulation of Aerial Navigation in Paris on 13 October 1919. The Paris Convention 1919 (as it became known) saw the beginning of international air law by confirming, virtually at the beginning of airline operations, the desire of governments throughout the world to systematically control aviation.

Today, the Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention 1944), which updated and replaced the Paris Convention 1919, has been ratified by more than 190 sovereign states. These countries have agreed, under international air law, to be bound by the technical and operational standards developed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and which are detailed in the 19 Annexes.

Sovereign state: a country with a defined territory that administers its own government and is not subject to, or dependent on, another country.

1.1 Air law

Throughout the world there has been considerable debate in relation to the formation of a universally agreed definition for the terms ‘air law’, ‘aeronautical law’ and ‘aviation law’. Sometimes the terms are even used interchangeably. With respect to the terms ‘air law’ and ‘law of the air’, if they were to apply to the literal or common meaning of the word ‘air’ as the medium or the atmosphere, then this would include all the law associated with the use of the air, including radio and satellite transmissions. In the main, air law, as it applies to aviation, has a far narrower interpretation and is generally considered to be law which governs the aeronautical uses of airspace (Milde, 2016).

Air law: that branch of law governing the aeronautical uses of airspace.

An alternative definition, and one which has received considerable support, is ‘that body of rules governing the use of airspace and its benefits for aviation, the general public and the nations of the world’ (Diederiks-Verschoor 2006, p. 1). This definition significantly expands the scope of activities to which air law applies.

Not that there is anything fundamentally irreconcilable with the second definition; however, to deviate so substantially from the subject matter of the first potentially creates confusion and ambiguity as to its meaning and usage. Throughout this chapter, air law will be considered as originally defined as ‘that branch of law governing the aeronautical uses of airspace’.

1.2 Aviation law

Aviation law is a broader term than air (aeronautical) law and has been defined as ‘that branch of law that comprises rules and practices which have been created, modified or developed to apply to aviation activities’. Aviation law is to air law what maritime law is to the law of the sea. To assist with the clarity of expression and reduce the potential for problems to arise in the application of these terms, the previous definitions will respectively apply to the terms ‘air law’ and ‘aviation law’.

Aviation law: that branch of law that comprises rules and practices which have been created, modified or developed to apply to aviation activities.

Aviation law therefore encompasses the regulation of the business aspects of airlines and general aviation activities. Consequently, aspects of insurance law, commercial law and competition law all form part of aviation law. Security and environmental regulations applicable to aviation activities are also within the scope of aviation law. Also included within the domain of aviation law is the regulatory oversight of aviation activities by regulators and government agencies.

Stop and think

What are the main differences between air law and aviation law?

1.3 International air law

International law is that body of legal rules that apply between sovereign states and such entities that have been granted international personality. Within the aviation community, the concept of international personality extends to organisations including ICAO, which is a division of the United Nations. International conventions (e.g. the Chicago Convention 1944 with regard to ICAO) detail and confer international personality upon these respective organisations.

As there is no sovereign international authority with the power to enforce decisions or even compel individual states to follow rules, international law has often been considered as not being a ‘true law’. In aviation, however, because of the extensive and important role of international institutions such as ICAO and IATA (International Air Transport Association) and the proliferation of bilateral air service agreements between nations, including the

Bilateral air service agreement: an agreement which two nations sign to allow international commercial air transport services to occur between their territories.

almost universal ratification of international conventions concerning international civil aviation, the existence of an international law would be difficult to refute.

The branch of international air law that determines the rules between contracting states and other international personalities is known as ‘public international air law’. The Paris Convention 1919 and the Chicago Convention 1944 are true charters of public international air law. This term contrasts with the law relating to private disputes in which one of the parties may be of another state. This is the realm of ‘private international air law’ or conflict of laws.

Conflict of laws: the laws of different countries, on the subject matter to be decided, are in opposition to each other or that laws of the same country are contradictory.

International air law is essentially a combination of both public and private international air law. It has been suggested that its principal purpose is to provide a system of regulation for international civil aviation and to eliminate conflicts or inconsistencies in domestic air law.

Stop and think

Consider why international air law is required.

1.4 International convention law

Convention law is the major source of international air law and is constituted by multilateral and bilateral agreements between sovereign states. To provide a further insight into the application and importance of both public and private international air law to the aviation industry, three major international conventions will be examined; but first it is important to highlight the importance of the concept of sovereignty as it applies to airspace.

1.5 Sovereignty of territorial airspace

In international aviation, the concept of sovereignty is the cornerstone upon which virtually all air law is founded. At the Paris Convention 1919, 26 Allied and Associated nations had to decide whether this new mode of transport was to follow the predominantly unregulated nature of international maritime operations, or whether governments would choose to regulate this new technology. The First World War had brought about the realisation of both the importance of aviation and its potential danger to states and their citizens in threatening their sovereignty.

Sovereignty: the authority of a state to govern itself.

It was, therefore, not surprising that the first Article of the Paris Convention 1919 stated:

The High Contracting Parties recognise that every Power has complete and exclusive sovereignty over the air space above its territory.

This proclamation addressed the debate of whether airspace was ‘free’, as it is with the high seas, or whether it was part of the subjacent state or territory. The decision to follow the latter path was almost unanimous. While the Paris Conve...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• List of contributors
• Preface to the 2nd edition
• Editor acknowledgements
• List or acronyms
• Introduction to air transport manaqement
• 1 Aviation law and regulation
• 2 Aviation economics and forecasting
• 3 Airline regulation and deregulation
• 4 Airfield design, configuration and management
• 5 Airport systems planning, design, and management
• 6 Airport management and performance
• 7 The airport-airline relationship
• 8 Airline business models
• 9 Airline pricing strategies
• 10 Airline passengers
• 11 Airline scheduling and disruption management
• 12 Airline finance and financial management
• 13 Aviation safety
• 14 Aviation security
• 15 Airspace and air traffic management
• 16 Aircraft manufacturing and technology
• 17 Air cargo and logistics
• 18 Environmental impacts and mitigation
• 19 Human resource management and industrial relations
• 20 Air transport marketing communications
• 21 Air transport in regional, rural and remote areas
• Index