Opinion: Aviation Cooperation Behind Taylor Swift’s Super Bowl Travel

The budding relationship between America’s reigning pop queen and a now three-time Super Bowl champion brought new drama, excitement and viewers. While Miss Americana and Mr. Kansas City are an incredible draw on their own, it was the global aviation industry that made Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s romantic postgame embrace possible.

Swift performed in Tokyo on Saturday, Feb. 10, and flew more than 5,000 mi. back to the U.S. to attend the big game. After departing from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, she arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday, Feb. 11—later completing the trip to Las Vegas—on a Canadian-manufactured Bombardier BD-700 Global Express long-range business jet nicknamed “The Football Era.” The aircraft is registered in European Union member state Malta and operated by VistaJet under a Maltese air operator certificate (AOC).

Swift’s trip—and the joy of her fans around the world—was facilitated by the standards and recommended practices of the International Civil Aviation Organization, which was created after World War II by the Convention on International Civil Aviation. The treaty established global rules of the air and the rights and responsibilities of contracting states regarding aviation safety.

The convention grants authority to an aircraft’s state of design (Canada, in the case of the Bombardier) to issue a type certificate that complies with the minimum airworthiness requirements of Annex 8, after which the state of design is responsible for issuing mandatory continuing airworthiness information to all states in which that type of aircraft is registered. The state of manufacture (also Canada) ensured the aircraft conformed to the approved design.

Pursuant to Article 31 of the convention, Malta issued a certificate of airworthiness based on conformity to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency’s (EASA) type certificate for the aircraft, which is maintained under EASA Part 145. Malta also issued the licenses of the flight crew as required by Article 33 of the convention.

Once Malta added the aircraft to its registry and issued the airworthiness certificate for the jet, Japan was obligated as a signatory to the convention to recognize the Maltese type certificate, provided it complied with Annex 8.

The aircraft flew in and out of Japan thanks to Article 5 of the convention, which requires signatory states to allow civil aircraft engaged in scheduled international air service from other signatory states to make flights into or over its territory, subject to certain conditions. Article 5 also gives such aircraft the right to take on and discharge passengers in the other state, subject to domestic restrictions.

Once the jet entered Japanese airspace, it was obligated to comply with Japan’s Civil Aeronautics Act, Chapter 8, which relates to foreign aircraft. When the aircraft left Japanese airspace and headed out over the Pacific Ocean, its operations came under Annex 2 of the convention, which establishes international rules of the air. However, the Malta-registered aircraft was still subject to EASA-based safety rules imposed by its home authority. Because Malta is the operator, Malta’s Civil Aviation Directorate was responsible for overseeing VistaJet’s AOC and resolving any safety issues that might have arisen. Part II, Section 6, Paragraph 4 of Malta’s Civil Aviation Act specifically extends applicability to “any flight in any part of the world by an aircraft registered in Malta.”

And, of course, when the aircraft entered U.S. airspace, it became subject to FAA operating rules. Foreign aircraft operations in the U.S. (and those of U.S. civil aircraft outside the country) are specifically addressed in 14 CFR, Part 91, Subpart H, although other rules in Part 91 apply to all aircraft operations regardless of the state of registry.

Viewers around the world watched the fairy tale end happily with Swift celebrating Kelce’s Super Bowl victory. The system of rules, people and technology that got her safely to the game went mostly unnoticed, even by the most ardent “Swifties” or Chiefs fans—and that is the point.

Christian A. Klein is the managing member of Obadal, Filler, MacLeod & Klein, overseeing the firm’s policy advocacy practice. He represents trade associations as a registered federal lobbyist and provides strategic communications and legal counsel services to clients. He is executive vice president of the Aeronautical Repair Station Association.