ABSTRACT
A published treatise on the subject of ‘open skies’ alleges that the existing restrictive regulatory regime has straitjacketed the world’s airline industry in a system of bilateral air treaties which has withstood the neo-liberal free trade winds of the post-war era. From a purely conceptual perspective, it is unwise in the context of rapid growth patterns in the demand for air transport services to dismiss the ‘open skies’ concept or liberalization of worldwide air transport market purely on the grounds that one carrier will lose and another will gain. The ‘safety net’ was first discussed at an international forum at International Civil Aviation Organization’s Fourth World-wide Air Transport Conference on International Air Transport Regulation, held in Montreal 23 November–6 December 1994. Unlike other predetermined commercial arrangements such as pool agreements, which take effect automatically on the occurrence of certain events, the ‘safety net’ has to be brought into action by the party concerned.
