Avero Belgium Insurance v. American Airlines, Inc.

JOSÉ A. CABRANES, Circuit Judge.

This appeal arises from an effort by a shipper to recover from an air carrier for loss of goods transported by international air freight. We are asked to determine which version of the treaty governing air transportation was in effect between the United States and Belgium on March 9, 2001 — the date on which the air carrier’s waybill 1 in this case was issued. Specifically, the question presented is whether, at that time, the United States was a party to The Hague Protocol of 1955 that amended the Warsaw Convention of 1929. 2

The United States District Court for…