Abstract
The United States government invited its allies during the Second World War to a conference in Chicago which lead to the discovery of the Chicago Convention. Out of the invited 55 states and authorities, 54 were present in Chicago. The Convention made in 1944 lead to the formation of a Provisional International Aviation Organization, known as PICAO and later the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The organization has its headquarters in Montreal, Canada. The United Nation associated agency was formed to harmonize and enhance the development of safe air navigation and transport among contracting nations. After the Second World War, the member states who were initially 52 relied on this agency to repair their economic and trade damages. Through its organs such as the Assembly, the Council, and the Secretariat, the organization grew and successfully developed international air transport. However, it also faces various challenges such as globalization and a rise in terrorism.
Introduction
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is an agency under the United Nations, whose role is to manage the Convention on International Civil Aviation, also known as the Chicago Convention. The convention was established in 1944 in Chicago by 52-member states. In 1947, the ICAO was established. The functions of the agency include ensuring that member states enjoy safe and efficient air transport and providing reasonable opportunities for all member states in the international airlines. ICAO has its permanent headquarters in Montreal. The agency began operation with 52-member states, and this number has grown to include 192 states. This paper describes research results on the establishment of ICAO, how it works, and the legal environment upon which the organization is based and functions.
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Literature Review
Chicago Conference
In November 1942, the United States government initiated a move in consultation with its World War II allies to hold an international convention in Chicago. The US government sent an invitation to 55 states and authorities, and 54 of them attended the infamous International Civil Aviation in Chicago (Liu & Tong, 2017). The primary role of this convention was to discuss and establish provisional world air routes, services, and to set up an interim council to manage and improve the routes. By December 7th, 1944, 32 states had signed the Chicago convention. A permanent organization, the ICAO was then established to manage the administration and operations under the convention. The organization would help in securing international cooperation and harmonizing regulations, procedures, and standards on aviation matters (Lykotrafiti, 2015). During this time, the member states signed other documents including:
The International Air Transport Agreement
The Drafts of 12 Annexes to the Chicago Convention
Interim Agreement on International Civil Aviation
Bilateral Agreement that permitted the exchange of air services and routes
Establishment of the Organization
During the conference, an interim agreement was signed to create a provisional organization. Therefore, an organization known as PICAO was created to promote collaboration in international civil aviation. PICAO operated from 1945 to 1947 when ICAO, the permanent agency was established. Even with the old organization was operating well and with headquarters in Montreal, Canada. Changing into the new one was just a formality of establishing a permanent agency. An organization known as an International Commission for Air Navigation (ICAN) was in existence before ICAO (Dobson, 2017). Establishment of ICAO brought an end to ICAN, and its member states agreed to dissolve it and join the new one.
The Chicago Convention
The International Civil Aviation in Chicago had 96 articles that described privileges and restrictions on the member states. The convention also defined and provided for adoption of the International Standards and Recommended and Recommended Practices (SARPs) to be used in international air transport. According to the convention provisions, every state has complete authority over the air space above its territory (Liu & Tong, 2017). Therefore, any other state can only schedule and operate over the territory with the nation’s consent. Article 44 of the Chicago Convention contains the aims and objectives of ICAO which can be summarized in developing basic techniques and principles of international air transport. Some of the specific aims of this organization include:
Enhancing aircraft design art and operation to promote peace
Ensure that international civil aviation grow safely and orderly among all nations
Enhancing the creation and development of airports, airways, and navigation facilities
Reducing and preventing impacts of unreasonable competition
Establishing and promoting flight safety in international air transport
Preventing and reducing the impacts of discrimination between member states
The Structure of ICAO
The International Civil Aviation Organization is an agency that has an assembly, a governing body, and a sovereign body. The organization’s Council convenes a meeting for the Assembly at least once each year. During decision makings, each state is entitled to a single vote, and the decision is made based on the majority votes by the Assembly. During these meetings, the Assembly reviews the organization’s work under economic, technical, legal, cooperation fields after which it guides other organs (Lykotrafiti, 2015).
The organization’s Council is a permanent body. It consists of 36 contracting states which are elected on a three-year term by the assembly. During the elections, representation priorities are given to those states considered to be more important in air transport than other states (Dobson, 2017). The role of the Council is to direct continuity of the organization’s operations. For example, it is this organ that adopts and incorporates the International Standards and Recommended Practices to the convention. Another role of the council is to act as an arbiter between contracting nations regarding aviation issues and how to implement of provisions of the convention (Lykotrafiti, 2015). Whenever there is any problem or an obstacle to the development of international air navigation, the council is investigating and provide a solution. Safety and normal activities of the organization are in the hands of the council. It cooperates with the Procedures for Air Navigation Services (PANS) which develops and approves the procedures and guidelines.
ICAO also has the Secretariat which is headed by a Secretary-General. The Secretariat is divided into five major divisions which include the Technical Co-operation Bureau, the Air Transport Bureau, the Legal Bureau, the Air Navigation Bureau, and the Bureau of Administration and Services (Dobson, 2017). Establishment of secretariat should reflect an international approach. Therefore, secretariat recruitment considers a broad geographical basis. Besides the organization’s different bodies, it also works in co-operation with other United Nation’s organizations such as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
Discussion
In the aftermath of the Second World War, there was a need for nations to rebuild their economy and infrastructure. Countries also needed to renegotiate international trade agreements and treaties. Therefore, world war allies of the United States came together through a convention that would develop air transport and navigation to facilitate the safe and efficient movement of trade goods and people (Bartsch, Coyne, & Gray, 2016). This convention was successful because, from it, a temporary civil aviation organization was created in 1945 and was replaced by a permanent ICAO two years later. The organization enhanced peaceful interaction and trade among the contracting nations. Membership of ICAO has since risen to 192 because of its success.
Challenges Faced by ICAO
Despite its success in unifying and developing air transport among contracting nations, the agency also faces some challenges that it needs to adjust to or change to accommodate. The following are the problems the organization faces currently:
Rise in international terrorism and use aircraft as weapons or to transport weapons
Establishment of many trading and regulatory blocks based on geographical regions
Move by nations to diversify their fiscal measures in response to budgetary requirements
There is a rise in the globalization of markets and trans-nationalization of various market operations (Bartsch, Coyne, & Gray, 2016).
Conclusion
After the Chicago Convention, the International Civil Aviation Organization was established to manage how the Convention was being administered. The organization began with 52-member states, and due to its success in unifying and developing international air navigation and transport, more states joined. ICAO is composed of bodies such as the Assembly, the Council, and the Secretariat. There Assembly is responsible for making policies and legislation, the Council implements the policies while the secretariat oversees the day-to-day activities of the agency. ICAO also works in cooperation with other United Nation’s agencies. Just like any other organizations, ICAO also faces challenges that affect the international sectors, and there is a need for further studies on how to cope with the challenges.
References
Bartsch, R., Coyne, J., & Gray, K. (2016). Global harmonization: International Civil Aviation Organization. In Drones in Society (pp. 61-76). Routledge.
Dobson, A. (2017). A History of International Civil Aviation: From Its Origins Through Transformative Evolution . Routledge.
Liu, S. R., & Tong, B. (2017). International Civil Aviation Organization Supersonic Task Group overview and status. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America , 141 (5), 3566-3566.
Lykotrafiti, A. (2015). Liberalisation of international civil aviation–charting the legal flightpath. Transport Policy , 43 , 85-95.
