The International Air Transport Association (IATA) will hold the 2026 edition of the World Legal Symposium (WLS) from 17-19 February in Warsaw, Poland, hosted by LOT Polish Airlines, under the theme “Liability in a Changing World”.

Airlines face a variety of enduring and new categories of liability, including their classic insured risks, and a host of contemporary compliance areas, such as ESG, greenwashing, taxation, privacy, and artificial intelligence. WLS will discuss these issues against the background of changing landscapes for consumer protection, trade tariffs, and geopolitics.

“Internationally agreed airline liability principles are facing growing pressure from divergent national measures, which risk undermining the uniform application of the international liability treaties and their benefits to connectivity. The challenges this creates for airlines, who must navigate through these inconsistencies to support global operations, will be at the heart of discussions at this year’s WLS,” said Leslie MacIntosh, IATA’s Corporate Secretary and Acting General Counsel.

“New regulations, emerging technologies, and evolving societal expectations create strategic challenges in airline operations today. As Poland’s national carrier, we are pleased to welcome an event bringing together leading aviation law experts, regulators, and industry representatives to jointly identify and address the complexities ahead,” said Michał Fijoł, President & CEO of LOT Polish Airlines.

Speakers and Sessions

Among the issues being discussed, the WLS program will include the following sessions:

·       Managing Geopolitical Exposures: Trade, Tariffs, Sanctions, and Insurance

·       Democratized Liability? Consumer Protection 2.0

·       Artificial Intelligence and Competition Law

·       From Carrier’s Agent, to Shipper, to Shipper’s Agent; the Moving Target of Freight Forwarder Liability

WLS will open with a welcome speech and keynote address from Michał Fijoł, President & CEO of LOT Polish Airlines. Other speakers at WLS this year include:

·       Barry Alexander, Partner, Victor Rane

·       Bartholomew J. Banino, Partner, Condon & Forsyth LLP

·       Ricardo Bernardi, Managing Partner, Bernardi & Schnapp Advogados

·       Alix d'Arjuzon, Partner, HFW

·       Michael Gill, Director of the Legal Affairs and External Relations Bureau, ICAO

·       Brian Hedberg, Lead Counsel, Aviation and International Regulatory Affairs, FedEx

·       Claudia Hess, Managing Partner, Urwantschky Dangel Borst

·       Imants Jansons, General Counsel and SVP Legal Affairs, Air Baltic

·       Michelle Johnson, General Counsel and SVP Legal Affairs, flydubai

·       Anna Konert, Professor, Łazarski University

·       Agnieszka Kunert-Diallo, Director of Compliance and Regulation, LOT Polish Airlines

·       Robert Lawson KC

·       Iva Savic, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb

·       Andrea Tang, Legal Service Director, FIATA - International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations

·       Zoe Tite, Partner, Clyde & Co

“The program and speakers we have lined up for WLS 2026 continue a long tradition of addressing the most pressing issues for the aviation legal community. By gathering in-house experts, private practitioners, and government legal advisers, WLS is a unique opportunity for a professional dialogue that unpacks aviation law’s most relevant issues so that we are all better prepared to more effectively mitigate evolving risks,” MacIntosh added.