[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 12 (Friday, January 17, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3104-3105]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-00713]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Office of the Secretary
Inflation Adjustments to Liability Limits Governed by the
Montreal Convention Effective December 28, 2019
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Department of Transportation.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Department is publishing a notice to inform U.S. and
certain foreign air carriers of inflation adjustments to liability
limits of air carriers and foreign air carriers under the Montreal
Convention.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Maegan Johnson, Senior Trial Attorney,
Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings, U.S. Department of
Transportation (DOT), 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590,
at [email protected] or 202-366-9342.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice informs U.S. and certain foreign
air carriers of inflation adjustments to liability limits of air
carriers and foreign air carriers under the Montreal
[[Page 3105]]
Convention (Convention).\1\ The adjustments affect limits on liability
for damages for passenger death or injury, delay in the carriage of
passengers, and the loss, delay or damage to baggage or cargo,
increasing those limits by nearly 14 percent. This increase became
effective on December 28, 2019. The U.S. and foreign air carriers
affected by these changes to the Convention include those providing
international carriage between countries that, like the United States,
are parties to the Convention, and that provide roundtrip foreign air
transportation that originates and terminates in the United States.
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\1\ Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for
International Carriage by Air, done at Montreal on May 28, 1999.
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The liability limits are set out in Articles 21 and 22 of the
Convention. Under Article 24 of the Convention, the International Civil
Aviation Organization (ICAO) reviews the liability limits in Articles
21 and 22 every five years in light of inflation that has occurred
during that period.\2\ In a June 28, 2019, notice, the Secretary
General of ICAO advised parties to the Convention of revisions required
pursuant to this review. The revised liability limits effective
December 28, 2019 (stated in Special Drawing Rights (SDRs)) are as
follows: \3\
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\2\ Article 24 of the Convention provides that the limits of
liability shall be reviewed by ICAO at five-year intervals and
adjusted ``by reference to an inflation factor which corresponds to
the accumulated rate of inflation since the previous revision. . .
.'' During its second review in 2014, ICAO concluded that it was not
necessary to increase liability limits at the time. Thus, the
inflation adjustments to the liability limits in Articles 21 and 22
announced in this Notice are the most recent increases since 2009.
\3\ The SDR, an international reserve asset, is a defined basket
of major currencies periodically reviewed by the International
Monetary Fund to reflect the relative importance of the constituent
currencies.
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Strict liability Destruction, loss,
for death or Delay in the damage or delay of Destruction, loss,
bodily injury to carriage of baggage per damage, or delay
passengers passengers passenger of cargo
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Limit as of Dec. 28, 2019....... 128 821 SDRs...... 5 346 SDRs........ 1 288 SDRs........ 22 SDRs.
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Pursuant to the terms of Article 24 in the Convention, the
increased limits become effective six months following the June 28
notice referred to above, or December 28, 2019. Carriers should,
therefore, revise their contracts of carriage, tariffs, required
notices, and practices to conform to the Convention's requirements.
Failure to implement in a timely manner the revised liability limits
and required notices would, in the view of the Department's Office of
Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings, constitute an unfair \4\ or
deceptive \5\ practice and unfair method of competition in violation of
49 U.S.C. 41712. This disclosure notice also extends to ticket agents
and indirect air carriers.\6\
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\4\ We consider a practice to be unfair if it is likely to cause
substantial injury to consumers which is not reasonably avoidable by
consumers themselves and not outweighed by countervailing benefits
to consumers or to competition.
\5\ We consider a practice to be deceptive where: (1) A
representation, omission, or practice misleads or is likely to
mislead the consumer; (2) a consumer's interpretation of the
representation, omission, or practice is considered reasonable under
the circumstances; and (3) the misleading representation, omission,
or practice is material.
\6\ Indirect air carrier and foreign indirect air carrier mean a
person or entity that, as a principal, holds out, sells, or arranges
air transportation and separately contracts with direct air carriers
and/or foreign direct air carriers. 14 CFR 295.5.
Issued this 10th day of January, 2020, in Washington, DC.
Blane A. Workie,
Assistant General Counsel for Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings,
U.S. Department of Transportation.
[FR Doc. 2020-00713 Filed 1-16-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-9X-P