Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP

Air Transport Industry Group

  • 01/31/13 Catching the Spirit Ancillary fees are the gold rush of the decade. They have been a major contributor to the return of financial health to many airlines.
  • 09/05/12 A Case of Olympic Proportions Much has and will continue to be written about the April decision in ACG Acquisition XX LLC vs. Olympic Airlines which will impact aircraft finance transactions for the foreseeable future.
  • 08/03/12 August 17 Comment Deadline on Non-Citizen Trusts The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is currently proposing changes to its policy on treatment of non-citizen trusts (NCTs).
  • 07/01/12 Is it Worthy??: Defining “airworthy” plus ICAO vs. the Volcano Parties to aviation equipment transactions often require that the aircraft be delivered, returned or maintained in "airworthy" condition. They insist that engines and other parts be in "serviceable" condition. Each willingly draft these words into their contracts, but is it clear what they mean? What happens when it comes time to test them?
  • 03/01/12 Financier Liability Protection Further Eroded in Florida In its July 2011 opinion issued in Vreeland v. Ferrer, the court found that a state law claim brought against an aircraft lessor under Florida's "dangerous instrumentality" doctrine for the death of the leased aircraft's passenger was not preempted by 42 U.S.C. §44112 because the passenger was killed while in the plane and not while on the ground beneath the plane.
  • 11/01/11 FAA Gets Tough on HAZMAT; Eurocontrol Tightens Account Access Procedures If you ship packages, any packages, then this affects you.
  • 09/01/11 Have Faith Imagine you're an engine leasing company. You lease an engine to an operator and require that it be insured against loss on an agreed value basis.
  • 07/01/11 Power Play: Changing Engines with the Oil Lessors are primarily concerned with value preservation and predictability. Well crafted maintenance and recordkeeping requirements and return conditions provide insurance against receiving a boat anchor at return and an engine that can remain on-wing with a follow-on operator for a measurable time after delivery.
  • 03/01/11 Breaking Up is Hard(er) to Do In January, the FAA's new rules addressing widespread fatigue damage (WFD) in aging aircraft became effective.
  • 11/01/10 A Matter of Trust The FAA has been a registry of convenience for years. A reliable filing system and well-established regulations and guidelines help to make it a model for the world.
  • 09/01/10 Is That a Lawsuit in Your Luggage? American Airlines was recently sued in Washington state (Covarrubias v. American Airlines, Inc.) over baggage fees. The suit alleges that American's passenger sought, and was denied, a refund of her baggage fee after her luggage was delayed and considered lost.
  • 07/01/10 Clouded by Ash Eyjafjallajökull?? At least you can pronounce volcano -- and what it spewed has been nothing less than a huge pain in the ash for the industry.
  • 05/01/10 Help Yourself In the U.S., the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC)[^1] permits a lessor, without judicial process, to repossess leased equipment or, without removal, make the equipment unusable, provided no breach of the peace occurs.
  • 12/15/09 Come Together … Right Now In a market increasingly dominated by low-cost carriers, how will the consolidation of the "legacy" airlines actually affect the industry -- and consumers?
  • 07/02/09 Developments in AVIATION Security Rules In recent years, commercial aviation has grown accustomed to increasing levels of governmental regulation designed to enhance security. Under the auspices of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the flying public has endured shoeless shuffles through metal detectors in airports. It is now the turn of a new group -- corporate and other general aviation -- to be regulated by TSA.
  • 02/18/09 What Else Can We Do With the Corporate Jet? The corporate jet has fast become one of the key strategic business tools in this country, allowing, for example, a company with a single aircraft to visit multiple locations, customers and prospective customers on the same day, giving the user a decidedly competitive advantage in the market.
  • 12/01/05 TURBULENCE in the Airline Industry It is difficult these days to avoid news stories on the troubled U.S. airline industry. Three of the seven largest U.S. passenger airlines are currently in bankruptcy. Over the past four years, the U.S. passenger airline industry has lost more than $32 billion, with an additional $9--10 billion loss projected for 2005.
  • 06/01/05 THE AVIANCA MIRACLE: An Innovative Approach to a Multinational Reorganization On March 21, 2003, Avianca Airlines filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in bankruptcy court in New York City. Avianca emerged from Chapter 11 on December 10, 2004, as a reorganized company, adequately capitalized and with a cost structure that the Company projected could be sustained well into the future.
  • 06/01/04 Parking the Plane: Deferring Taxes on Corporate Jet Sales Sooner or later, most owners of pricey corporate jets and turboprops realize they cannot sell their aircraft without incurring a substantial income tax liability. As one client recently put it: "Buying an airplane is like getting married - once you're in, you're in. If you want out, it will cost you dearly."
  • 10/01/02 The New Way to Fly The corporate aircraft has found a home in Corporate America. Over 12,000 companies in the United States today own or operate business aircraft, which represents an increase of approximately 100% since 1991. The unparalleled convenience, flexibility and savings in time that come with private air travel simply cannot be matched by the airlines.
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