Bracing for Impact: The Montreal Convention 1999 a Quarter of a Century Later: An Insurance Perspective

The year 2024 marked the twenty-fifth anniversary since the Montreal Convention 1999 was drafted and opened for signature. The attempts to modernize the Warsaw Convention Regime have been largely successful. One aspect of the Convention that has received comparatively less attention has been its interaction with aviation insurers. From its inception, the Convention has earnestly attempted to ensure continuity with its predecessor and safeguard its stated objective of legal uniformity in determining that the liability of an airline to its passengers and shippers is maintained. This is an important objective for insurers as legal certainty in assessing such liability and particularly the determination of jurisdiction is prized by insurers as they analyse, rate the premium, and, in this article’s context, adjust claims in the aftermath of a loss. At the same time, the remarkable improvement in the operational safety of air travel has, from an insurer’s perspective, required consideration of a partial repurposing of the Convention’s value in addressing the handling and adjustment of the smaller, so-called every day, claims that airline and their insurers typically face. Together with the explosion in passenger numbers, heightened consumer awareness and a re-evaluation of the impact of mental health during the intervening twenty-five years, it is a repurposing that is necessary to ensure the Convention maintains its relevance in the future.