Typical Adjudication Differences on the General Conditions of Domestic Carriage of Passengers and Baggage and their Application of Law

In domestic air passenger transportation contract disputes, there are significant differences in the legal application of the general conditions of transportation, which are concentrated in three types of disputes: first, the dispute over the validity of the standard clause, the core of which lies in the judicial difference between the formal compliance requirements and the substantive agreement; Second, the dispute over the standard of compensation for baggage damage focuses on the conflict between the provisions of the general conditions of carriage and the provisions of the Civil Aviation Law, and the lack of substantive fairness due to the serious lag of the current compensation standard of “compensation per kilogram”; Third, the key to the dispute over liability for breach of contract for aircraft type change lies in the tension between the airline’s obligation to eliminate the type guarantee obligation and the reasonable service expectations of passengers through standard clauses. In order to build consensus and clarify the application of law, the effect of standard clauses should follow the dual standards of conspicuous reminder and substantive knowledge in Article 10 of the Judicial Interpretation of the General Principles of Contracts. The standard of compensation for baggage damage should fill the subsequent legal loopholes with the principle of fairness in Article 6 of the Civil Code, and connect with the international compensation standard introduced in the Civil Aviation Law (Revised Draft) to form a fair and reasonable compensation mechanism. The determination of breach of contract for aircraft type change shall be based on the “service standard principle” established in Article 821 of the Civil Code, and the objective impairment of service quality shall be the criterion.

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