I would like to know whether the Warsaw Convention, or any subsequent
convention, or the conditions of carriage of Swiss International Air
Lines state that they will or must provide a copy of the conditions of
carriage upon request of the passenger.

I have asked Swiss to provide me with their conditions of carriage,
(after I flew with them) and they have not done so. Since I will be
suing them over another issue, I would like to know if they were
obligated, legally or otherwise, to provide the conditions of carriage

Hi there, Solars.

I can confirm that they must provide the Conditions of Carriage for
you upon request.

I will be quoting heavily from the following PDF document by the IATA
(International Air Transport Association) in the answer:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/transport/air/rights/doc_consult_contracts/01_international_air_transport_association.pdf

=========

From page 8:

"Q6. Do passengers receive sufficient information at the
pre-contractual stage?
 (...) Airlines agree that passengers should be made aware that
general conditions exist. (...) Legislation on Unfair Terms in
Consumer Contracts stipulates that a term is unenforceable unless the
customer has been told. Hence additional protection for consumers is
provided by the UTCC."

In addition, I found the following which may be relevant to your
situation:
"The US Department of Transportation rules (at 14 CFR Ch. II, Part
253) requiring Notice of Terms of Contract of Carriage are clear and
to the point. While allowing carriers to incorporate contract terms by
reference (i.e. without stating their full text), it requires the full
text must be available for public inspection."

From page 12:

"Q11. To make available their general conditions at points of sale,
including websites?
IATA carriers are required to make their general conditions of
carriage available at their offices and many include them on their
websites. But this should be a generic requirement applying to all
transport operators, not only to airlines."

==========

Also, the end of the document provides more clarity with the sections
that I have quoted here:

"ATTACHMENT II
Signatory Airlines agree to:

4 c. Each airline will produce a clear and concise statement of its
policy, which will be made available to its passengers. This will
include a list of routes on which any exceptions apply."

"12. Provide Information to Passengers Regarding its Commercial and
Operational Conditions
Airlines will provide their passengers with the following information
relevant to their journey:

A. At the time of booking (if available):
v. Any conditions attached to the fare to be paid

C. On request: (for the airline’s own services and where available for
services operated by other carriers)
vi. Its Conditions of Carriage"

===========

The question is, are Swiss International Air (also known as Crossair)
a "Signatory Airline"?
The answer is yes, as you can see on the ECAC wesite here:
http://www.ecac-ceac.org/uk/activities/activities-economic.htm


I hope this provides all the information that you need.
Kind regards,
errol-ga.


Related Links:

IATA
http://www.iata.org/atdi/airline/law/

Association of European Airlines
http://www.aea.be

ERA Member Information - Swiss International Airlines
http://www.eraa.org/details.asp?id=48


Related google searches:

"airline law"
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"iata make available conditions"
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"signatory airlines Airline Passenger Service Commitment"
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