국제항공운송협회 여객판매대리점계약의 법적 성격 및 그 불공정성에 대하여 — 서울고등법원 2022누58843 판결을 중심으로 —

This paper analyzes the Seoul High Court 2022NU58843 ruling concerning the legal nature and potential unfairness of the International Air Transport Association's(IATA) Passenger Sales Agency Agreement(PSAA). It examines the conflicting determinations made by the Korea Fair Trade Commission(KFTC) and the court regarding the protracted dispute over airline ticket issuance fees, and elucidates interpretation criteria for Article 10, Paragraph 1 of the Act on the Regulation of Terms and Conditions(hereinafter “Adhesion Contract Act”). The paper first delineates the background and progression of the issuance fee dispute. It illustrates how the conflict between airlines and travel agencies, which originated in the early 2000s, escalated following Korean Air's complete abrogation of issuance fees in 2010. It then chronicles the process of the Korea Association of Travel Agents (KATA) filing petitions with the Fair Trade Commission, the ensuing investigations, and the Commission's remedial recommendation in 2021, culminating in IATA's administrative litigation. The crux of the paper lies in analyzing the criteria for determining violations of Article 10, Paragraph 1 of the Adhesion Contract Act. It assesses the validity of the judgment, focusing on the relevance to debt performance, unilateral determination by businesses, and the existence of reasonable grounds. It scrutinizes the Fair Trade Commission's review criteria and trends in extant jurisprudence, employing these to critically analyze the reasoning of the target judgment. The paper identifies certain logical inconsistencies in the target judgment, particularly in its determinations regarding debt performance and unilateral decision-making. It critiques the view that issuance fees are unrelated to debt performance despite constituting the primary consideration of the contract, and the interpretation of the freedom to choose whether to enter into a contract as consultation. Notwithstanding these criticisms, the paper ultimately deems the final judgment of the target ruling to be appropriate. This conclusion is predicated on the consideration of situational factors such as contemporaneous changes in the aviation industry environment, the implementation of electronic ticketing, and the proliferation of low-cost carriers, which collectively constituted ‘reasonable grounds’. It contends that the contract terms cannot be deemed unfair as travel agencies could reasonably anticipate these changes. In conclusion, the paper elucidates the significance of this ruling and delineates future considerations. It analyzes the implications for airline distribution structures and the travel industry, and underscores the necessity for comprehensive analysis and solution-seeking regarding various legal and economic issues, including fair competition in the aviation industry, consumer rights protection, and the interplay between international norms and domestic law.