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Passengers' Protection and Rights in International Civil Aviation

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Passengers' Protection and Rights in International Civil Aviation PASSENGERS' PROTECTION AND RIGHTS IN INTERNATIONAL CIVIL AVIATION by Usha Balasubramaniam Institute of Air and Space Law McGill University, Canada August2007 A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Laws (L.L.M) © Usha Balasubramaniam,2007 Library and Bibliothèque et 1+1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Bran ch Patrimoine de l'édition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada Your file Votre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-51415-3 Our file Notre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-51415-3 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant à la Bibliothèque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par télécommunication ou par l'Internet, prêter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des thèses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, à des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, électronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriété du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protège cette thèse. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. ln compliance with the Canadian Conformément à la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privée, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont été enlevés de cette thèse. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. ••• Canada TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract. ............................................................................................ .i Resume .............................................................................................. .ii Acknowledgernents ............................................................................... .iii Introduction .......................................................................................... 1 Chapter I: Consumer Protection of Basic Airline Services ................................6 Introduction ................................................................................................... 6 Delay and Cancellation ........................................................................................6 Regulatory Safeguards against Delay and Cancellations .................................................. 7 Denied Boarding and Overbooking ...................................................................... 13 Regulatory Safeguards against Denied Boarding and Overbooking ................................. 14 Fares, Misleading Advertising and Airline Misrepresentations ...................................... 18 Regulatory Safeguards against Fares, Misleading Advertising and Airline Misrepresentations ............................................................................... .18 Contracts of Carriage .......................................................................................24 Miscellaneous Consumer Issues ..........................................................................24 Conclusion ................................................................................................... 26 Chapter II: Airline Baggage Mishandling and Consumer Protection .................28 Introduction ................................................................................................... 28 A Statistical Overview ofMishandled Baggage ......................................................... 28 Regulations ofMishandled Baggage ......................................................................30 Conclusion ................................................................................................... .36 Chapter III: Air Passenger Health and Consumer Protection ......................... 38 Introduction ................................................................................................. .3 8 Classification ofHealth Conditions afflicting Air Passengers ........................................39 Regulations for Protection of Air Passenger Health ................................................... 39 National Regulations on Air Passenger Health ......................................................... 52 Conclusion ...................................................................................................60 Chapter IV: Racial Discrimination and Profiling of Air Passengers .................. 61 Introduction ..................................................................................................61 Defining "Racial Profiling" ................................................................................62 Theoretical justifications for and against Racial Profiling at Airports ............................... 63 Legal Ramifications of Racial Profiling at Airports in the United States and European Union .. 66 Conclusion ................................................................................................... 78 Chapter V: Rights of Disa bled Passengers ..................................................81 Introduction ..................................................................................................81 Legal Accommodation ofDisabled Air Passengers .................................................... 82 Multilateral Regimes on Disability ........................................................................ 83 Unilateral National Regulation on Disability ............................................................93 Conclusion ................................................................................................... 99 Final Conclusion .................................................................................. 101 Table of Abbreviations .................................................................................... 104 Bibliography ................................................................................................ 106 Appendix .................................................................................................... 111 ABSTRACT Air transport is of critical importance to move passengers and cargo from one place to another on a global scale. Subsistence, sustenance, growth and projitability of the air transport industry are dependent on the demand for transport from passengers and cargo as the main sources of revenue of the airline industry. The forces of globalization and liberalization, coupled with the very rapid development of low-cost operators, have tempered the growth and profitability of the aviation industry whilst, at the same time, greatly increasing the consumer (passenger and air freight user) advantages in terms of expanding the gamut oftheir choices, better quality and lower priees. The ever-expanding markets in the Asia and Pacifie region hold great promise for a rapid growth of the aviation industry in years to come. Currently, the international civil aviation community is faced with many challenges evolving from globalization, liberalization of economie regulations, privatization of airlines and airports, commercialization of government services providers, increasing environmental controls, and the emerge of new technologies. To deal e:ffectively with these challenges and issues will require a high levet of cooperation among civil aviation authorities, airlines, airports, and providers of air services and products. Airlines under the new free trade regimes have been exposed to many changes and although GATS has an important role to play in this important field, the convergence of economie, safety, security and environmental issues makes a strong case for keeping regulation in these critical issues under the ICAO aviation umbrella. As air transport experiences structural, policy and regulatory environment changes, in the era of free trade it would be interesting to critically examine the impact of the aforementioned changes on the rights and protection of passengers. In this relation, it becomes very important to review the international, regional, and national efforts which have been made to enhance consumer protection and also have an important bearing on the rights of airline passengers. The thesis also addresses sorne emerging, non-traditional consumer protection issues, such as health, racial discrimination and the rights of disabled passengers In view of the above, the well-developed consumer protection regimes in the United States and the European Union (EU) would be examined in depth and the results of its analysis would be used to develop a suitable model airline passenger protection in the rapidly expending economies r.,----. of the Asia and Pacifie Region. RESUME Les transports aériens sont d'une importance majeur pour déplacer les passagers et les cargaisons d'un endroit à l'autre sur une
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