Since the dawn of civil aviation, there has been a permanent concern to preserve safety in air transport.
Paradoxically, it is not without reason that the aviationDespite its youth, it is one of the fields of technical development in which most progress has been made in the shortest period of time. It is a means of transport that has been carrying passengers for barely a century, yet it is currently the safest and most efficient.
In 1903, the Wright brothers made their first flight, considered by many to be the beginning of aviation because it was the first time a heavier-than-air aircraft took flight. The commercial flights en los que se transportaban pasajeros de forma regular no comenzaron a ser algo cotidiano hasta pasada una década, pero, desde ese momento, el avance y la innovación fueron constantes.
The objective pursued in the evolution of aircraft changed over the years. While at the beginning the challenge was to keep the aircraft in the air longer and to fly longer distances, later the passenger or cargo capacity was gradually increased. Speed was another barrier that had to be overcome step by step until the current record of the SR-71 was reached. Nowadays, almost all aircraft advances are focused on efficiency and safety improvements.
But looking back, a first attempt to address international regulation of civil aviation took place in Paris in 1919. By the end of the first great war, aviation had progressed significantly and, above all, people's concept of it had changed. It was no longer conceived as just the dream of a few crazy pioneers, but was perceived as a obvious advantages for passenger transport over long distances.
The 1919 Paris Convention (Convention for the Regulation of International Air Navigation) led to the creation of the International Air Navigation Commission and laid down some principles such as:
- La soberanía de los estados
- Aircraft and pilot regulations.
- Communication equipment.
- Los libros, certificados y titulaciones de los pilotos.
- The distinction of aircraft types according to their use.
El avance que experimentó la aviación en los siguientes años se vio interrumpido por el estallido de la Segunda Guerra Mundial que, paradójicamente, contribuyó a los mayores avances de la aviación en su corta historia. Durante ese periodo, las aeronaves habían pasado de utilizar la madera como base de su construcción a ser enteramente metálicas; las prestaciones de los nuevos aviones eran asombrosas; la potencia de los motores era increíble y aparecían los primeros reactores; la radio se impuso como un medio de comunicación permanente y el radar hizo su aparición…
In 1944, near the end of the war, the United States promoted a convention in the city of Chicago with the aim of giving a boost to international aviation in peacetime. It was attended by representatives from 52 states.
At that meeting it was agreed to establish a permanent body que continuase la tarea de 1919, llamado inicialmente Organización Provisional de Aviación Civil Internacional (OPACI), hasta que el 4 de abril de 1947 pasó a denominarse International Civil Aviation Organisation (OACI), al ser refrendado el convenio por los Estados miembros y entrar en vigor. Su objetivo fue, y es, “desarrollar los principios y técnicas de la navegación aérea internacional y fomentar la organización y el desenvolvimiento del transporte aéreo internacional”.
Finally, the convention regulated in its 96 articles the privileges and restrictions of all contracting states in civil aviation matters, establishing in a liberal manner the aspects of navigation and air traffictogether with air traffic without remuneration. Air transport for remuneration was left to bilateral agreements between States, which would be registered with ICAO.
The "Convention on International Civil Aviation" or "Chicago Convention" was a success and, in practice, now regulates international civil aviation worldwide. ICAO is a specialised agency of the UN and all 191 contracting states of the Chicago Convention are members.
