This article is an overview of recent developments in aviation law. Areas of concentration include the Airline Deregulation Act, the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, and the Warsaw Convention, among others. Brief synopses of pertinent cases and their dispositions are classified according to their subject matter and relation to major areas of aviation law.

Talking about the WTO means in general talking about its dispute settlement mechanism, because this is the most prominent feature of the WTO. This dispute settlement procedure has been very successful in solving disputes between the WTO’s Members during the past decade. The pending case at the WTO over subsidies between the two leading manufacturers in civil aircraft, Boeing and Airbus, will severely test this WTO dispute settlement process. An analysis of the WTO dispute settlement system reveals many problems arising out of the complexity and scale of the dispute between the United States and the European Community and its member States. This paper presents several reasons why the WTO dispute settlement system is not equipped to handle this “high profile” case and concludes that the WTO is not the appropriate forum to settle this dispute. By deciding this case, the WTO runs a high risk of damaging its credibility and legitimacy. Therefore, the WTO would greatly benefit from the parties to this dispute making every effort to settle this case outside of the WTO prior to the WTO issuing rulings in its “toughest” case to date.

This article explores the different interpretations given to various transportation conventions, including the Warsaw and Montreal Conventions, regarding a passenger's notice of the applicability of such conventions. Different readings of the convention's notice provisions may give varied limitations on carrier liability. Furthermore, the validity of the selection of forum clauses, and the contradictory language found in the convention documents, can also play a major role in the outcome of such suits. The author recommends the reconciliation of such language in order to give passengers a clear picture of how this notice affects their travel.

The Precautionary Principle requires states and their nationals to use extra caution when undertaking activities relating to natural resources with uncertain resulting effects on the environment. This paper analyzes whether the Precautionary Prinicple can be applied to ativities relating to the moon.

This article provides an overview of general aviation ("GA") security and analyzes recently proposed GA security bills. The article begins with a brief description of the GA industry and then discusses the effectiveness of security measures currently employed by the GA industry. Next, the article argues that, despite arguments otherwise, GA is at risk for terrorist exploit. The article then evaluates the GA security bills currently under consideration, concluding that they are inadequate to address security risks, and recommends alternative security plans.

Ryan Griffin, in State Aid, The Growth of Low-Cost Carriers in the European Union, and the Impact of the 2005 Guidelines on Financing of Airports and Start-Up Aid to Airlines Departing from Regional Airports, examines the European airline industry’s movement toward air transport liberalization and the growth of low-cost air carriers in Europe. Specifically discussed are the European Commission’s various guidelines dealing with state aid for airlines and publicly owned regional airports. Finally, the article addresses how the Commission’s guidelines might impact low-cost carriers and the European airline industry in general.