Let’s pick this up right where the contract rules leave off — Page 39, Lesson 74

Let’s pick this up right where the contract rules leave off. We’ve just covered the ticket and the contract of carriage. Now I want to walk you through what happens when things go wrong — specifically, delay, and the money limits that cap the carrier’s liability. First, the ticket point that closes the previous section. The loss, irregularity, or absence of a ticket or note does not affect the existence or the validity of the contract. That’s a firm rule — the paper is evidence, not the contract itself. And if applicable, the operator is required to draw the passenger’s attention to the Warsaw Convention limits of liability where electronic tickets are issued. So even with an e-ticket, the passenger must be told about those liability caps. Now, delay. The carrier is liable for damage occasioned by delay in the carriage by air of passengers, baggage, or cargo. That’s the starting position — liability attaches. But there’s a defence. The carrier shall not be liable for damage occasioned by delay if it proves that it and its servants and agents took all measures that could reasonably be required to avoid the damage, or that it was impossible for it or them to take such measures. So the burden is on the carrier to show either that it did everything reasonably possible, or that taking those measures was impossible. That’s the escape hatch. Then we get to the limits of liability in relation to delay, baggage, and cargo. These are the monetary caps. For damage caused by delay as specified in Article 19 in the carriage of persons, the liability of the carrier for each passenger is limited to 4150 Special Drawing Rights. Special Drawing Rights — that’s the SDR, an international reserve asset used as the unit here, not a currency you hold in your pocket. So 4150 SDR per passenger for delay. For baggage, the liability of the carrier in the case of destruction, loss, damage, or delay is limited to 1000 Special Drawing Rights for each passenger — unless the passenger has made, at the time when the checked baggage was handed over to the carrier, a special declaration of interest in delivery at destination, and has paid a supplementary sum if the case so requires. That’s the key mechanism — you declare a higher value at handover, you pay extra, and then the cap lifts. In that case the carrier will be liable to pay a sum not exceeding the declared sum, unless it proves that the sum is greater than the passenger’s actual interest in delivery at destination. So the declared sum is the ceiling, but the carrier can argue down if the declared value exceeds what you actually stood to lose. For cargo, the liability of the carrier in the case of destruction, loss, damage, or delay is limited to a sum of 17 Special Drawing Rights per kilogram — unless the consignor has made, at the time when the package was handed over to the carrier, a special declaration of interest in delivery at destination, and has paid a supplementary sum if the case so requires. Same structure as baggage — declare at handover, pay the supplement, and the cap lifts. In that case the carrier will be liable to pay a sum not exceeding the declared sum, unless it proves that the sum is greater than the consignor’s actual interest in delivery at destination. So the pattern is consistent across baggage and cargo: a default cap — 1000 SDR per passenger for baggage, 17 SDR per kilogram for cargo — and a declared-value override that only works if you declare at the moment of handover and pay the supplement. And the carrier can still contest the declared sum if it exceeds your actual interest. That’s the full liability framework for delay, baggage, and cargo.