Chan et al. v. Korean Air Lines, Ltd.
Decided April 18, 1989. Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 87-1055 · 490 U.S. 122 (1989) · Cited 264 times
Holding
International air carriers do not lose the benefit of the Warsaw Convention's damages limitation if they fail to provide notice of that limitation in passenger tickets.
The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.
How the Justices voted
Decided 9–0.
Majority · 5
- Antonin Scalia · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy
- Byron Raymond White
- Sandra Day O'Connor
- William Hubbs Rehnquist
Concurring · 4
- Harry Andrew Blackmun
- John Paul Stevens
- Thurgood Marshall
- William Joseph Brennan Jr. · filed a concurring opinion
“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.
Precedents cited
Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.
- Volkswagenwerk Aktiengesellschaft v. Schlunk · 486 U.S. 694 (1988)
- Air France v. Saks · 470 U.S. 392 (1985)
- United States v. Stuart · 489 U.S. 353 (1989)
- Gideon v. Wainwright · 372 U.S. 335 (1963)
- Sumitomo Shoji America, Inc. v. Avagliano · 457 U.S. 176 (1982)
- Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Franklin Mint Corp. · 466 U.S. 243 (1984)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Lozano v. Montoya Alvarez · 572 U.S. 1 (2014)
- Eastern Airlines, Inc. v. Floyd · 499 U.S. 530 (1991)
- Nielsen v. Preap · 586 U.S. 392 (2019)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
Explore from here
Antonin Scalia’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1989). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).