This week‘s industry news contained many reports and commentaries relating to airline bancrupcy filings and the resignation of the FAA Administrator. News, yes, but both unfortunate even negative events in our industry. An important date in world history, December 7th is the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, drawing the United States into World War II.
One small and less noticed bit of news caught my attention; a celebration of civil aviation! How many of us were aware of this one? I‘ll be honest, I‘d heard of this day in the past, knew it was approaching, yet had forgotten until reading about it this week. December 7th is International Civil Aviation Day, an official United Nations celebration, commemorating the establishment of the International Civil Aviation Organization.
Roberto Kobeh Gonzalez, president of the Council of ICAO, stated in an ICAO press release which is posted on this web site, “Today, we celebrate a very special birthday. On this day 67 years ago, a group of visionaries, meeting at the Stevens Hotel in Chicago, signed a document that would forever change our world.” Representatives from 54 nations attended this initial meeting. The theme for this year’s celebration is “Assistance and Cooperation for Globally Sustainable Air Transport.” Sounds like a tall order.
Many have heard of ICAO but what does this organization stand for and what does it do? From the ICAO website comes this brief description: A specialized agency of the United Nations (UN), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) was created on the 7th of December 1944 to promote the safe and orderly development of international civil aviation throughout the world. Since then, the ICAO has been responsible for setting standards and regulations for aviation safety, security, efficiency, and regularity among its 191 contracting states.
I received one other short notice of this global celebration, International Civil Aviation Day, from the Baltic Aviation Academy, in Vilnius, Lithuania, with offices in Moscow and Warsaw; reaffirming that aviation truly is a global industry that knows no boundaries. This flight training academy expresses one simple message, “Congratulations to the civil aviation community on this day.”
