US and European product liability applied to the aircraft industry

One of the most important legal issues international aircraft manufacturers have to deal with is product liability for aeroplanes and equipments. Due to the economic importance of passenger claims in some countries, the legal regime the manufacturers are submitted to, may even become a decisive competitive advantage.;In order to find out to what extent the major Western legal systems respond differently to the needs of consumer protection, we submit four major national legislations to a detailed analysis working out the most striking particularities. We have a special look at the EEC harmonization attempts in this field and we oppose the European standards to the current legal situation in the US.;The results are refined by an exploration of aviation related jurisprudence and legislation. Our study reveals that many differences remain between European and US product liability standards despite apparent approximation of the regimes. The availability of numerous defenses and the less extensive practice with regard to the award of damages lead generally to a more manufacturer-friendly situation in Europe.;However, the resulting competitive advantage of European aircraft manufacturers might be compensated by rules of private international law allowing for "forum shopping" which often leads European aircraft manufacturers before US jurisdictions.