Cooperative Ventures between Air Carriers: Time to Reform the International Rules?

The increasing tendency by air carriers to enter into cooperative agreements, such as wet-leasing, raises several important legal issues. In cases where there is both an actual and a contractual carrier, questions may arise concerning, inter alia, the allocation of liability and the applicable jurisdiction when an accident or other prejudicial event occurs during air carriage, and whether passengers have a right to be informed of the identity of the performing carrier. While the current international legal framework provides – at least as far as liability is concerned – some of the answers, these situations still present several “grey areas,” fostering legal uncertainty at the expense of both passengers/consignors and airlines. Against this background, the present essay aims at examining some of the legal issues at stake when wet-lease or other cooperative ventures agreements are in place, in order to highlight the main shortcomings of the current legal regime and, accordingly, attempt to elaborate some de lege ferenda proposals.