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Featured Articles
Featured Articles: Aviation
"National carriers" - The Last Frontier
John Balfour
It is an astonishing paradox that the industry in the forefront of promoting international commerce and integration should be subject to antiquated rules that hinder cross-border investment and expansion.
Preparing for an FAA Investigation of Alleged Maintenance Violations
Albert Tellechea
Holland & Knight LLP
John F Pritchard
Marc L Antonecchia
Holland & Knight LLP
How our regulatory authorities react to aircraft maintenance violations can directly affect not only airlines but also aircraft and engine financiers, lessors, sellers, manufacturers, and government guarantors who all have an interest in the equipment and how the airline takes care of it.
Keeping Wings Level in Turbulent Times: Selected Recent Legal Developments
Karl Hennessee
Senior Legal Counsel - Litigation & Regulatory Affairs, Airbus SAS
Aviation law has always encompassed complex liability questions, expansive regulatory challenges, and multinational financial transactions, and recent developments have provided aviation lawyers a chance to be at the forefront of many of today's most pressing policy questions.
An International Introduction to Aviation
Karl Hennessee
Senior Legal Counsel - Litigation & Regulatory Affairs, Airbus SAS
Events of this past year illustrate yet again the dynamic and complex playing field that aviation lawyers can expect to encounter whether they work in-house or for a law firm. Facing a web of intricate laws and regulations pertaining to everything from airworthiness certification and ownership restrictions to the circulation and filtration of onboard air, aviation lawyers must ever be accomplished in their fields of expertise while remaining prepared to venture into uncharted territories.
The Next Frontier - European Community External Aviation Matters
John Balfour
Some three-and-a-half years on from the judgment of the European Court of Justice in the so-called ‘open skies’ cases, it has become apparent that it was a landmark ruling which is now having very significant practical effects, in much the same way as the ‘Nouvelles Frontières’ judgment in 1986, on an apparently rather technical point concerning cross-border ticketing, paved the way for the creation of the internal aviation market in the EC.
The Cape Town Convention And Its Effects on Aircraft Financing and Leasing
Rod Margo
Michael Holland
The Cape Town Convention came into effect on 1 March, 2006 for the nine countries which ratified the convention and the Aviation Protocol. The Cape Town Convention represents the successful culmination of some 10 years’ work by bankers, lawyers, lessors and financing companies to create a treaty which provides security for aircraft and engine lessors as well as reduced financing costs for lessees. The nine countries party to the convention are Ethiopia, Ireland, Malaysia, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Senegal and the United States. The European Community is actively pursuing ratification and it is likely that the nations of the community will become contracting states in late 2006 or early 2007. It is anticipated that three countries with formidable aviation interests, China, India and Russia, will also ratify the Cape Town Convention in the near future.
The Privatisation of the German ATC Organisation DFS
P Nikolai Ehlers
Thorsten Ebermann
These days, the German air traffic control organisation Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS) is facing significant and challenging changes. As a result of establishing the Single European Sky (SES) through several air traffic control regulations of the EU in 2004, it became necessary to adjust German air traffic control accordingly.
The Travel Company's Perspective
Eddie Redfern
Group head of aviation regulation & industry affairs, First Choice Holidays
As a leading international leisure travel company, First Choice Holidays will at any given moment be focusing on a number of areas, some of which are constant like the environment others of which cover specific matters such as aviation bilateral regulation and border control policies. We identify and work on these issues using both internal and external experts.
How to Hire Foreign Counsel
Yvonne Ramos
Assistant general counsel & director of governmental and community affairs Spirit Airlines
Business executives often find the need to hire foreign counsel in today’s accelerating competitive aviation industry. Following are a few suggestions that could be helpful when deciding precisely which foreign attorney or firm to hire
Editorial
Editorial: Aviation
Editorial: Aviation in the UAE
So far 2008 has been a boom year for the United Arab Emirates' aviation industry, with Etihad Airways, the country's national airline, enjoying a 41 per cent rise in passenger figures since 2007, and 3.5 million passengers using Abu Dhabi airport alone between January and May.
Editorial: Aviation in Illinois
The aviation industry is encountering difficult times. Instability in the financial markets, increasing fuel costs and a dip in consumer spending have seen a number of carriers go out of business this year. Bankruptcies and workouts may well increase in the coming 12 months. It is against this backdrop that the demand for lawyers with specific industry knowledge remains high. In total we have identified 18 lawyers from nine separate firms with a range of expertise. Leading commercial and aircraft finance lawyers rub shoulders with some of the industry's major names for contentious matters arising out of major aircraft accidents.
Editorial: Aviation
In February 2008, Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary predicted a "perfect storm" in the aviation industry. This bleak forecast has proved perceptive: small to mid-sized companies such as Aloha Airlines and Oasis Hong Kong Airlines, which both collapsed early in the year, were casualties of rocky financial markets, a dip in consumer spending and hikes in fuel costs, which have troubled the whole industry. In this increasingly difficult market, insolvencies, restructurings and mergers look set to loom large in the coming year, affecting carriers of all sizes.
Editorial: Aviation in Florida
The following chapter identifies 21 individuals from 18 firms, all of whom were consistently recommended to researchers for the strength of their aviation practices.
Editorial: Aviation in Singapore
Our research indicates that Singapore does not possess a large pool of aviation lawyers. What our findings do uncover, however, is that the seven individuals profiled in this chapter are not only well-known on the domestic scene but – judging by the levels of international nominations – are also some of the most respected practitioners in the global market.
Editorial: Aviation in California
Our research has uncovered 19 individuals from 16 firms who are recognised by clients and peers as pre-eminent for their aviation work. These lawyers represent a range of clients including airlines, insurers, engine and component manufacturers, and airports. However, practices differ greatly from individual to individual and firm to firm. A number of the most highly regarded practitioners focus on the commercial side of the industry, offering advice on areas such as aircraft purchase, sale, leasing and financing, alliances and joint ventures, as well as airline start-ups. Others specialise in contentious liability matters, such as those arising from major disasters.
Editorial: Aviation in Texas
According to Fortune magazine’s 2007 ranking of America’s largest corporations by revenue, four of the country’s largest companies within the aviation industry are headquartered in Texas – AMR, Continental Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Express Jet Holdings. Geneva based Airports Council International, a trade group for the world’s commercial aviation industry, lists Dallas Fort Worth International Airport as the sixth busiest airport in the world with Houston coming in at No. 18. This, coupled with strong industry links to Texas, ensures that a number of the practice area’s leading lights practice in the state. Nineteen of these are included in this chapter, the majority of whom specialise in litigation and contentious liability matters arising out of major accidents.
Editorial: Aviation in Georgia
Twelve of the state’s finest aviation specialists are listed in this chapter. All were consistently endorsed for their work, whether on the commercial or the contentious side. Among them we highlight lawyers who concentrate on aircraft purchases, sale, leasing and financing or matters arising from major accidents.
Lawyers
All Lawyers in Aviation (Listed Alphabetically)
Click on the name of a lawyer below to view their profile. Lawyers shaded in purple have professional biographies in one or more practice areas.