Transportation laws

IMPORTANT CONCEPTS:

1. Transportation documents

1. 
   Passenger ticket
   
2. 
   Baggage check
   
3. 
   Air way bill
   

2. Liability of the carrier for damages

1. 
   Death or injury to passengers
   
2. 
   Loss or damage to baggage or goods
   
3. 
   Delay
   

3. Successive carrier agreement

4. Jurisdiction

5. Combined transportation agreement

PASSENGER TICKET	BAGGAGE CHECK	AIR WAYBILL
Passenger	Checked-in baggage	Goods to be shipped

LIABILITY OF CARRIER FOR DAMAGES

1. Death or injury of a passenger if the accident causing it took place on board the aircraft or in the course of its operations of embarking or disembarking; (Art. 17)

2. Destruction, loss or damage to any baggage or goods, if it took place during the “transportation by air”; (Art. 18) and

 Transportation by air – The period during which the baggage or goods are in the charge of the carrier, whether in an airport or on board an aircraft, or, in case of a landing outside an airport, in any place whatsoever.

It includes any transportation by land or water outside an airport if such takes place in the performance of a contract for transportation by air, for the purpose of loading, delivery, or transshipment.

3. Delay in the transportation of passengers, baggage or goods. (Art. 19)
Note: The Hague Protocol amended the WC by removing the provision that if the airline took all necessary steps to avoid the damage, it could exculpate itself completely (Art. 20(1)). (Alitalia vs. IAC, 192 SCRA 9)

LIMIT OF LIABILITY (Art. 22, as amended by Guatemala Protocol, 1971; Alitalia vs. IAC)

1. Passengers

GENERAL RULE: $100,000 per passenger

EXCEPTION: Agreement to a higher limit


2. Checked-in baggage

GENERAL RULE: $20 per kilogram

EXCEPTION: In case of special declaration of value and payment of a supplementary sum by consignor, carrier is liable to not more than the declared sum unless it proves the sum is greater than actual value.

3. Hand-carried baggage

 $1000/passenger

4. Goods to be shipped

GENERAL RULE: $20 per kilogram

EXCEPTION: In case of special declaration of value and payment of a supplementary sum by consignor, carrier is liable to not more than the declared sum unless it proves the sum is greater than actual value.
 An agreement relieving the carrier from liability or fixing a lower limit is null and void. (Art. 23)

 Carrier is not entitled to the foregoing limit if the damage is caused by willful misconduct or default on its part. (Art. 25)

 Thus, the WC does not operate as an exclusive enumeration of the instances of an absolute limit of the extent of liability. It does not preclude the application of the Civil Code and other pertinent local laws. It does not regulate or exclude liability for other breaches of contract by the carrier, or misconduct of its employees, or for some particular or exceptional type of damage. (Alitalia vs. CA)
 In PanAm v. IAC, the WC was applied as regards the limitation on the carrier’s liability, there being a simple loss of baggage without any improper conduct on the part of the officials or employees of the airline or other special injury sustained by the passenger.
 In KLM Royal v. Tuller, the WC has invariably been held inapplicable, or as not restrictive of the carrier’s liability, where there was satisfactory evidence of malice or bad faith attributable to its officers and employees. (Alitalia vs. IAC)

ACTION FOR DAMAGES

1. Notice of claim

 A written complaint must me made within:

1. 
   3 days from receipt of baggage
   
2. 
   7 days from receipt of goods
   
3. 
   In case of delay, 14 days from receipt of baggage/goods
   

 The complaint is a condition precedent. Without the complaint, the action is barred except in case of fraud on the part of the carrier. (Art. 26)
2. Prescriptive period

 Action must be filed within 2 years from:

1. 
   date of arrival at the destination
   
2. 
   date of expected arrival
   
3. 
   date on which the transportation stopped. (Art. 29)
   

 In United Airlines vs. Uy the two-year prescriptive period was not applied where the airline employed delaying tactics.

RULE IN CASE OF VARIOUS SUCCESSIVE CARRIERS

1. 
   Carriage of passengers
   

GENERAL RULE: Action is filed only against the carrier in which the accident or delay occurred.

EXCEPTION: Agreement or contract whereby the first carrier assumed liability for the whole journey.

2. 
   Carriage of baggage or goods
   

1. 
   Passenger or consignor can file an action against the first carrier and the carrier in which the damage occurred
   
2. 
   Passenger or consignee can file an action against the last carrier and the carrier in which the damage occurred.
   

 These carriers are jointly and severally liable. (Art. 30)
 A contract of international carriage by air, although performed by different carriers under a series of airline tickets constitutes a single operation. Members of the International Air Transportation Association (IATA) are under a general pool partnership agreement wherein they act as agent of each other in the issuance of tickets to contracted passengers to boost ticket sales worldwide and at the same time provide passengers easy access to airlines which are otherwise inaccessible in some parts of the world. (American Airlines vs. CA)
 Under a general pool partnership agreement, the ticket-issuing airline is the principal in a contract of carriage while the endorsee-airline is the agent. The obligation of the former remained and did not cease even when the breach occurred not on its own flight but on that of another airline which had undertaken to carry the passengers to one of their destinations. (China Airlines vs. Chiok)