AVIATION LAW — 'INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORTA- TION' UNDER THE WARSAW CONVENTION — NINTH CIRCUIT HOLDS THAT A TRAVELER'S INDEPENDENTLY PURCHASED DOMESTIC FLIGHT IN A FOREIGN NATION WAS NOT A 'SINGLE OPERATION' OF INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL UNDER THE WARSAW

摘要

The Warsaw Convention ("Convention") governs "all international transportation of persons." Transportation is international when a passenger travels between two nations that are High Contracting Parties to the Convention. Multiple stops on multiple carriers constitute international travel if the segments are regarded by the contracting parties as a "single operation" of "undivided transportation." In Coyle v. P.T. Garuda Indonesia, the Ninth Circuit narrowly applied the definition of "international transportation," holding that two sets of tickets on the same airline, one set international and the other set domestic, purchased at different times and places, do not constitute a "single operation." The narrow holding in Coyle disregards the explicit text of the Convention and ignores the objective evidence presented by the tickets. Moreover, the holding ignores modern trends in travel planning, creating a loophole for airlines to selectively apply the Convention for separately purchased tickets that would otherwise be considered a "single operation," while undermining the primary goal of the Convention—to harmonize and unify international aviation law.