## Facts

- Kathleen Robertson booked travel through an agent using both British Airways (BA) and American Airlines (AA).
- The planned trip involved travel within the United States, then international travel to London, and a return to Washington, D.C.
- Before returning, Robertson rescheduled her return travel to September 10 and held two possible return routings that day: (1) an all-AA route London–New York–Washington, and (2) a BA/AA route London–Denver–Chicago–Washington.
- Robertson chose the BA/AA return routing and flew BA from London to Denver, then boarded an AA flight from Denver to Chicago as part of the same-day travel to Washington, D.C.
- On the AA Denver–Chicago segment, Robertson suffered burns when a cup of hot tea or coffee spilled on her.
- Robertson sued AA for damages almost three years after the incident.
- AA removed the case to federal court and sought summary judgment, arguing the Warsaw Convention applied and barred the claim under its two-year limitations period.

## Issues

1. Whether the AA Denver–Chicago flight segment constituted part of “international transportation” under the Warsaw Convention because the parties regarded the overall trip as a single operation.
2. If so, whether the Warsaw Convention’s two-year limitations period extinguished Robertson’s personal-injury claim.

## Decision

- The court of appeals affirmed summary judgment for AA.
- The Denver–Chicago segment qualified as “international transportation” because it was a leg of a same-day itinerary beginning in London and ending in Washington, D.C., regarded by the parties as a single operation.
- The existence of an unused alternative all-AA itinerary did not convert the chosen route into purely domestic transportation.
- Because the Warsaw Convention applied, its two-year limitations period governed and barred the suit filed nearly three years after the injury.

## Legal Principles

- Under the Warsaw Convention, “international transportation” can include domestic segments when they are part of an agreed itinerary between an international point of departure or destination and another point, and the travel is regarded by the parties as a single operation.
- The “single operation” inquiry turns on objective indicia of the parties’ contemplated itinerary (e.g., coordinated scheduling, continuity of travel, and arrangement of connecting segments), not solely on whether travel is evidenced by separate tickets or performed by successive carriers.
- Once transportation falls within the Convention, the Convention supplies the controlling liability framework and its two-year limitations period applies, extinguishing untimely claims.

## Conclusion

The court held that Robertson’s injury on AA’s Denver–Chicago flight arose during international transportation within the meaning of the Warsaw Convention because the segment was part of a coordinated London-to-Washington itinerary; as a result, the Convention’s two-year limitations period applied and barred her action.


Robertson v. Am. Airlines, Inc., 401 F.3d 499 (D.C. Cir. 2005)