Air and Space Law Commons^™

Mega-Constellations: Disrupting The Space Legal Order, Steven E. Grotch

Emory International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Public Safety Concerns And Meeting The Dudenhoeffer Pleading Standard, Douglass G. Brown

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

This Comment analyzes the recent Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) stock drop cases against The Boeing Company (Boeing) and reviews the underlying pleading standard in these cases that the Supreme Court set forth in Fifth Third Bancorp v. Dudenhoeffer. With the tremendous amount of assets in retirement plans—and specifically in employee stock ownership plans—litigation under ERISA can be extremely costly to employers, especially those in the airline industry that offer these plans. The current pleading standard for stock drop cases has become a practically insurmountable barrier to plaintiffs, even when their employers know they are negligently creating products …

Remaining Human: How The Airline Deregulation Act Shields Commercial Air Carriers From Legal Liability For Mishandling Human Remains, Abigail A. Lahvis

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 (ADA) deregulated the domestic airline industry. Specifically, the ADA ended the dual administrative system, which allowed the states to regulate intrastate airfare and permitted the federal government’s Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) to regulate interstate airfare. The Act also included a broad preemption clause to prevent the states from reimposing economic regulations on air travel. The preemption clause prohibits a “State . . . [from] enact[ing] or enforc[ing] any law, rule, regulation, standard, or other provision having the force and effect of law relating to rates, routes, or services of any air carrier.”

The Supreme …

Regulating Science Fiction: The Regulatory Deficiencies In A Rapidly Growing Commercial Space Industry, H. Austin Simpson

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

This Comment explores the deficiencies of the legal framework governing commercial space with the advent of satellite mega-constellations. The scope and size of these so-called constellations are completely unlike anything the space industry has contemplated since the first rocket was launched into orbit. Moreover, these constellations are an extremely new phenomenon—the prime movers in the industry are just beginning to create these massive man-made wonders in space. As such, the legal framework was designed around space operations that are much smaller in scope. That framework has struggled to keep pace with the rapidly growing commercial space industry generally and the …

At The Crossroads Between Bankruptcy And Aviation: The Proposed Bankruptcy Venue Reform And The Imperilment Of Foreign Airlines’ Availment To U.S. Bankruptcy Courts Under Chapter 11, Pauline Hodencq

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on several of the nation’s industries, aviation being no stranger given the financial difficulties, flight cancellations, and health mandates the sector consequently faced. Despite concerns that a wave of bankruptcy filings would submerge U.S. bankruptcy courts, the domestic need for restructuring did not arise as predicted, the main reason being the federal assistance provided to enterprises in peril. On the contrary, foreign debtor airlines were the ones to avail themselves of the experience and efficiency of magnet districts for restructuring under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. Simultaneously, large domestic corporations sought the assistance …

The (Pfas)T And The Furious: Applying Hazardous Waste Management Frameworks To The Global Presence Of Pfas, Maggie Clark

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

International treaties governing transboundary hazardous waste are a result of the theory of sustainable development. These conventions have developed over several decades but still lack authority over one of the biggest waste exporters: the United States. As forever chemicals like GenX become a spotlight for future waste regulation, can these conventions project a framework to apply to the currently unregulated chemical that predominantly travels across the Atlantic Ocean between the Netherlands and the United States? This Article seeks to apply various transboundary waste international laws to the market for GenX, identify problems, and propose solutions.

Customary International Law As A Vessel For Global Accord: The Case Of Customary Rules-Of- The-Road For Governing The Orbital Highways Of Earth, Hjalte Osborn Frandsen

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

In a time where the international community seems unable or unwilling to commit to binding instruments to solve global-governance issues, ranging from climate to cybercrime, increased reliance on customary norms presents a path forward. Using the case of space traffic, this author investigates if and how customary international law can emerge to govern complex transnational issues. The traditional approach to international custom is augmented with perspectives from the broader field of social science to accord for the influence of private actors and technological development on the formation of customary law.

Commercialization of the space sector has unleashed a tremendous proliferation …

Changemakers: Rewards Of The Road Less Traveled: Dylan Collins, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Establishing Commercial Aviation Safety Privilege: Court Precedent Versus Statute, Jason Powell

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

This concept paper evaluates the pros and cons of establishing commercial aviation safety privilege beyond the almost uniquely United States Department of Defense (DoD) legal protection built upon court precedence (stare decisis) as a statutory concept that can apply across all aviation investigations. The protection offered under Title 49 CFR 1114 only applies to the information provided that is not part of the safety investigation and allows full release of interviews that pertain to the investigation, which is further applied in the National Transportation Safety Board Aviation Investigation Manual (2002). The Supreme Court of the United States recognized different privileged …

Use Of Unmanned Aircraft Systems And Regulatory Landscape: Unravelling The Future Challenges In The High Sky, K Kirthan Shenoy, Divya Tyagi

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The individuals on the ground nowadays often observe objects distantly hover over the sky, which raises the question of who might be operating the object or what the object might record. Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) or Drones today have quickly penetrated civilian, military, and commercial sectors. The drones or UAS, with the advancement of technology, are now capable of traversing long distances, having long endurance, and having multipurpose functionality. The UAS industry is fast expanding, with trade investment touching the billion-dollar mark in flourishing economies. The advent of the Covid 19 pandemic saw a steep rise in the use of …

Airport Noise As Public Bads: Comparative Remarks On Legal Challenges In Resolving The Neighbor Conflict Between The Airport And Landowners, Magdalena Habdas

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

Incompatible uses of land create neighbor conflicts connected with the notions of civil law immissions (non-trespassory invasions) or common law nuisance. These traditional instruments of resolving the neighbor conflict have their limitations when pollution (such as noise pollution produced by aviation) interferes with the use and enjoyment of land that affects numerous landowners. Lawmakers seek to resolve the neighbor conflict with public intervention in such circumstances. Instead of relying on the market, the state allocates entitlements, indicates how parties must behave, and prescribes the conditions under which lawmakers should conclude an agreement.

Interestingly, although the nuisance caused by airport noise …

Understanding An Outlier: The U.S. System Of Airport Governance And Economic Regulation, Robert A. Hazel

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

Unlike airports in many other countries which have been corporatized or privatized, nearly all U.S. airports continue to be operated by the public sector. They are subject to a system of economic regulation that provides little incentive to control costs or allocate capital efficiently. Yet, despite its apparent shortcomings, the current system has persisted over several decades. This Article explains the persistence of the current U.S. system of airport economic regulation based on price theory, regulatory economics, and public choice principles. It offers supporting empirical evidence for this equilibrium and identifies factors that might lead to a different outcome.

Elected …

Predicting Bearing Fault In The Drone Freight Industry: Legal Liability In Australia, Prue Vines, Anthony Song, Matthew Priestley, Elias Aboutanios

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

Many people are now aware of drones or remotely piloted aircraft (RPAs), and several others have predicted the significant impacts that drones will bring across society. Today, there is an expectation that drones will play a pivotal role in industries such as surveillance, security, surveying, construction, and freight transport. However, in all these cases, whenever a drone is flying over a populated area, it poses a danger to people or things on the ground. Perhaps the sector where the greatest risk of injury to the everyday person exists is the drone delivery industry. The drone freight industry is proliferating fast, …

Front Matter

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

No abstract provided.

Private Law Aspects Of Suborbital Flights: Second- And Third-Party Liability And Insurance, Tanja Masson-Zwaan

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

Two companies carried private citizens to the edge of space in July 2021. Although suborbital flights have so far taken place within one jurisdiction—they start and end in the same state, do not pass through foreign airspace, or meet both criteria—they will become international when transportation between two points in different states via outer space becomes a reality. International law is ambiguous about the regulation of suborbital flights; neither international air law nor international space law explicitly apply. It is also unclear which organization or institution should be mandated with the international regulation of suborbital flights. The legal uncertainties must …

Pulsed Nuclear Space Propulsion And International Law: Some Preliminary, Glenn Reynolds, Leigh Outten

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

Pulsed Nuclear Space Propulsion, researched in the 1950s and 1960s by such eminent physicists as Freeman Dyson, Ted Taylor, Theodore von Karman, and Hans Bethe, involves propelling large spacecraft using compact nuclear explosions from specialized atomic devices. This technology is often known by the name of the Air Force project in which it was developed: Orion. It has long been believed that the 1962 Limited Test Ban Treaty prohibits the use of nuclear pulse space propulsion. After a survey of the Orion project and its results and a review of the applicable law, this Article concludes that language in the …

Vertiports: Ready For Take-Off … And Landing, Benjamyn Scott

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

While aviation has been used in transportation for decades, the use of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft for large-scale, low-cost, green, sustainable, and integrated mobility in populated areas is a new phenomenon. Despite the importance of ground infrastructure for embarkation and disembarkation of passengers, cargo, and mail, questions remain on how these “vertiports” are or should be regulated and how they will relate to existing regulated ground infrastructure such as aerodromes, airports, and heliports. Therefore, several questions arise: what is a vertiport; how do vertiports relate to other aviation infrastructure; what are the legal implications of having different terms; …

Cabotage And Deregulatory Anomalies, Timothy M. Ravich

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

The strangest airline route in America is between Pago Pago and the Manu’a Islands in American Samoa. No U.S. carrier serves this “domestic” route. Therefore, it is the only route between two points in the United States (or, more accurately, its territories) that is regularly scheduled service by a non-U.S.-flagged airline. The Pago Pago–Manu’a Islands flight is thus an unprecedented and unique exception to a federal law that permits only U.S. carriers operating U.S.-registered aircraft to fly between U.S. states and territories. Under existing U.S. cabotage policies, moreover, states and U.S. territories are divested of all power to manage …

Front Matter

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

No abstract provided.

The “Law Of The Horse” For Outer Space? What “Space Law” Is, And Why It Is Important To Educate Space Lawyers, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

When I tell someone that I make a professional living with teaching, researching, and advising on space law, the first reaction all too often is laughter, followed by an only half-joking “So tell me, who owns the Moon then?” Which, by the way, nowadays is an important legal issue indeed. Such a lack of automatic recognition that something like “space law” makes sense ever since humankind entered outer space, however, usually is part of a more fundamental lack of understanding of the importance of space activities for our daily lives, which does not stop growing day by day.

It is …