The Montreal Convention—1999

As a result of the band-aid approach to fixing the deficiencies of Warsaw, the world interna­tional transportation community operated under a patchwork of rules governing liability and com­pensation in cases of loss. Under the auspices of ICAO, an international conference was convened in Montreal in 1999 and adopted what is now referred to as the Montreal Convention of 1999 (Montreal 99). The basic provisions of the Con­vention (Montreal 99) include: (1) imposition of strict liability for the first 100,000 SDRs of proven damages for passenger death or injury, (2) removal of all arbitrary limits of liability for amounts in excess of 100,000 SDRs for passen­ger death or injury (assuming there is carrier neg­ligence), (3) increases the number of jurisdictions (countries) where suits may be brought than was allowed under Warsaw, and (4) clarifies carrier responsibilities under code-sharing arrangements.

Montreal 99 was ratified by the United States on May 9, 2003, and entered into force as of November 4, 2003, as the Montreal Con­vention—1999. As of 2012, the Convention had been ratified by 102 countries and is considered the law of most of the civilized world in airline liability.

18 The Chicago Conference

Toward the end of World War II, the United States invited representatives from the countries allied in the war effort against the Axis countries, as well as representatives from some of the neutral coun­tries, to participate in an international conference on the subject of civil air transportation. World consensus was that there would be a mighty surge of international civil aviation and commerce after the expected end of hostilities. The United States at that time was in a preeminent position, vis-a­vis the rest of the world, to extend its influence all over the globe, and to capitalize on the great advantage that it held in international aviation as a result of the American air fleet produced dur­ing the war. American airplanes of the transport category had proliferated after wartime production began in 1941, and they had pioneered intercon­tinental routes in support of United States ground and naval personnel dispatched to all corners of the globe to meet the aggression of the Axis Pow­ers. America, in fact, held a virtual monopoly on transport aircraft capable of intercontinental reach.