Airline Liability: From Warsaw 1929 to Montreal 1999

When something goes wrong on an international flight, the airline's liability is usually governed not by national law but by treaty.

The Warsaw Convention (1929)

The Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Carriage by Air, signed in Warsaw in 1929, created uniform rules for tickets, baggage, and air carrier liability. It capped airline liability at low levels to protect a young industry. Over the following decades it was amended several times, and the patchwork of versions became difficult to apply.

The Montreal Convention (1999)

The Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air, adopted in Montreal in 1999, modernized the system. It entered into force in 2003. Its key features include:

• Strict liability for passenger death or injury up to a defined threshold, with liability beyond that unless the carrier proves it was not at fault.
• Rules for delay, baggage, and cargo.
• Limits expressed in Special Drawing Rights and periodically reviewed.
• An expanded choice of courts, including, for injury or death, the passenger's principal residence in many circumstances.

Practical meaning

For travelers, the Montreal Convention is why baggage claims and injury claims on international flights follow common rules across most of the world.