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Aviation Liability Law, 3rd Edition
Author
:
Paul Stephen Dempsey
This treatise assesses the liability of airlines, aircraft manufacturers, airports, air navigation service providers, aircraft lessors and lessees, insurers, governments and other potential defendants for personal injury, death, loss, damage, and delay. The book includes downloadable appendices featuring more than 25 documents (URL located on the copyright page).
Publication Language: English
Published: November 19, 2025
Publisher: LexisNexis Canada
"Dempsey's Aviation Liability Law is a real treasure trove! Through hundreds of court decisions from around the world, mostly and not surprisingly from US and Canadian courts, essential concepts of the various liability regulations in aviation are explained and substantiated. Decisions are not only cited, but key passages from them are quoted in footnotes. The relevant, mostly English-language literature is extensively evaluated. Even though Dempsey occasionally relies on material from his lectures, the book, with its roughly 1200 pages, is nonetheless an incredible labor of love...Anyone dealing with liability issues in air transport has an excellent tool at their side with Dempsey's Aviation Liability Law. Paul Dempsey and his co-authors deserve thanks and the highest recognition for this outstanding work."
Translated from the publication ZLW – German Journal of Air & Space Law, issue ZLE 75 Jg. 2/2026
LexisNexis is pleased to announce publication of the third edition of Aviation Liability Law by Professor Dr. Paul Stephen Dempsey. This treatise comprehensively covers liability in air transportation. It assesses the liability of airlines, aircraft manufacturers, airports, air navigation service providers, aircraft lessors and lessees, insurers, governments and other potential defendants for personal injury, death, loss, damage, and delay. It is the culmination of many decades of teaching and writing about domestic and international aviation law.
Aviation Liability Law, 3rd Edition provides a comprehensive review of aviation law jurisprudence world-wide, coupled with critical analysis and strategic recommendations. Many practical suggestions are provided, to help minimize research time for the busy aviation law practitioner. It also features 27 international treaties, conventions, protocols and other related legislative material.
Topics Covered
- Domestic and international liability
- Accidents and negligence
- Government liability
- Insurance
- Personal and property damages
- Liability for death, personal injury or delay
- Liability for air cargo and baggage delay, loss or damage
- Products liability
- International, Warsaw and Montreal Conventions
- Time limitations
- Conflict of Laws
What’s New In This Edition
- Review and analysis of contemporary domestic and international jurisprudence since the previous edition was published over 10 years ago
- Updated jurisprudence interpreting the Warsaw and Montreal Conventions, which govern commercial aviation liability and international air transportation
- Review of all major decision in US and common law jurisprudence (Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong), as well as relevant liability statutes in Civil Law jurisdictions
- Review of conflicting jurisprudence in US Courts of Appeals
- EU air transport regulations and European Court of Justice decisions on consumer protection, and compensation for delayed and cancelled flights
- Special charts to illustrate the State Ratification of the International Air Liability Conventions, and the inflation-adjustment liability limits under the Montreal Convention of 1999
- Special URL containing downloadable appendices featuring more than 25 documents (URL located on the copyright page)
Who Should Read This Book
- Aviation, litigation, insurance and other lawyers acting for clients who are involved in legal disputes over damage and death resulting from accidents in the air
- In-house counsel for airlines, insurers and other companies that deal regularly in passenger and freight transportation and the airline industry
- Students of aviation law who require a comprehensive text book on the area of aviation tort law
- Law libraries will find this book to be a valuable addition to their collection of books on aviation law
Preface
Chapter 1 – Jurisdiction
Chapter 2 – Negligence
Chapter 3 – Products Liability
Chapter 4 – Accident Investigations
Chapter 5 – Governmental Liability
Chapter 6 – Surface Damage
Chapter 7 – Preemption
Chapter 8 – The Warsaw and Montreal Conventions
Chapter 9 – Subject Matter Jurisdiction Under the International Conventions
Chapter 10 – Venue in International Litigation
Chapter 11 – Time Limitations: International Claims
Chapter 12 – “Accident”: International Passenger Death and Injury
Chapter 13 – Documentary Requirements of International Carriage
Chapter 14 – Delay, Denied Boarding and Flight Cancellation
Chapter 15 – International Cargo and Baggage
Chapter 16 – Damages
Chapter 17 – Insurance
Appendices (URL located on the copyright page)
Appendix A – International Conventions on Air Carrier Liability for Passengers, Cargo and Baggage
Appendix B – Intercarrier Agreements on Air Carrier Liability for Passengers
Appendix C – European Union Regulations and Directives
Appendix D – United States Regulatory Material
Appendix E – International Convention Addressing Liability of Aircraft Commander and Crew Members For Passenger Liability
Appendix F – International Conventions on Air Operator Liability for Surface Damage
Appendix G – International Convention on Products Liability
Table of Cases
Index
