Indemnity Ins. Co. of N. Am. v. Agility Logistics Corp.

OPINION AND ORDER  The Montreal Convention imposes liability on air carriers for “destruction…of…cargo,” “loss of…cargo,” or “damage to…cargo.” In this case, a carrier transported a jet engine on the wrong type of truck. That mistake required the recipient to do a costly inspection, which ultimately revealed no transport-related damage. This raises the novel question of whether the Montreal Convention allows recovery of inspection costs even though there was no physical damage to any cargo. For the reasons that follow, the answer is no.I. BackgroundPlaintiff Indemnity Insurance Company of North America is an insurance company. Defendant Agility Logistics Corp. is a shipping company.This suit concerns a jet engine shipped from Florida to Germany. GE Capital Aviation Services arranged for Agility to transport the engine, which GE Capital had just refurbished. Agility does not ship anything itself; rather, it arranges shipment with various carriers along the shipping route. (Dkt. No. 4571.) The parties dispute who exactly contracted with whom, but the basic chronology is as follows:GE Capital sends an “engine shipment request” to Agility, asking for the engine to be shipped from a company called LCI in Tamarac, Florida, to Lufthansa Technic in Alzey, Germany. (Dkt. No. 29-2.)Agility sends a “spot quote” to GE Capital, listing LCI as the “shipper of record” and Lufthansa Technik as the recipient/consignee. (Dkt. No. 29-3.)The engine begins its journey. The air waybill exhorts: “All ground transportation must be full air ride.” (Dkt. No. 29-6.) This means that every axle of the truck must have an air-ride suspension.The engine arrives safely in Frankfurt Airport. (Dkt. No. 459.)The engine is loaded onto a tractor-trailer in Frankfurt Airport. The tractor-trailer is arranged by Agility’s German affiliate, Agility Germany. (Dkt. No. 4512.) But while the trailer has an air-ride suspension, the tractor does not. (Dkt. No. 4516.)The engine arrives in Alzey. Lufthansa Technik is not pleased.Lufthansa Technik takes apart the engine to check for transport-related defects. The inspection turns up several defects unrelated to transport. There is no evidence that improper transport caused any damage. (Dkt. No. 45