Agenda

This session provides an introduction both to the workshop and to airport law generally. It will then explore the evolution of airports and airport law in the United States, and the changing role of local, state, and federal governments in the airport system. It is designed to provide a historical context for why legal authority is divided among different agencies and why the United States’ airport law scheme is unique among other industrialized nations. This session will also introduce common terms and legal relationships among the various stakeholders and will provide background for those needing a refresher – or those who are new to the field of airport law.

To continue with the introduction to airport law, this session provides a survey of federal, and some state, law that governs or affects airports. This session will discuss the wide range of statutes, regulations, and case law interpretations, to provide a basic grounding in the law. This session will be relatively high level and some of this law will be the subject of later sessions, where it will be discussed in more depth.