International Civil Aviation Organization

 The International Civil Aviation Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international air transport to ensure safe and orderly growth. 

Headquarters: Montreal, Canada

Founded: 7 December 1944

Council President: Salvatore Sciacchitano

Abbreviation: ICAO

Secretary General: Juan Carlos Salazar Gómez

Main organ: Triennial Assembly; ICAO Council; Secretariat

Parent organization: United Nations

What is the meaning of international civil aviation?

an organization that is responsible for creating safety standards for air travel and for giving advice to airlines: The International Civil Aviation Organization can provide air transport industry statistical information, including fleet, traffic, personnel, and financial information.


The ICAO, whose membership includes virtually every state in the world, has several component bodies: (1) an Assembly of delegates from all member countries that meets every three years, (2) a Council of representatives from 33 member states, elected by and responsible to the Assembly, that sits in continuous session at ICAO headquarters, (3) an Air Navigation Commission appointed by the Council for addressing technical matters, and (4) various standing committees, including a Committee on Joint Support of Air Navigation Services and a Finance Committee. The ICAO’s Secretariat is headed by a secretary-general selected by the Council for a three-year term. The five main sections of the Secretariat—the Air Navigation Bureau, the Air Transport Bureau, the Technical Co-operation Bureau, the Legal Bureau, and the Bureau of Administration and Services—provide technical and administrative assistance to the various national representatives.

The assertion of governmental control in other industries led to the creation of many other regulatory agencies modeled upon the ICC, chief among these being the Federal Trade Commission (FTC; 1914), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC; 1934), and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC; 1934). In addition, regulatory powers were conferred upon the ordinary executive departments; the Department of Agriculture, for example, was given such powers under the Stockyards and Packers Act (1938). Much of Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal program of the 1930s was carried out through administrative regulation. During the same period a comparable development took place in state and municipal government. Other, more recent federal agencies included the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC; 1964), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA; 1970), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA; 1971), the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC; 1972), the Federal Election Commission (FEC; 1975), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC; 1975), and the Consmer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB; 2010).

The functions of the FTC illustrate those of regulatory agencies in general. It oversees the packaging, labeling, and advertising of consumer goods. It applies broadly stated legislative policies to concrete cases of trade competition by a procedure patterned after that of the courts. It grants licenses to those seeking to engage in export trade. It also regulates collection and circulation of credit information.

Regulatory agencies use a commission system of administration, and their terms of office are fixed and often very long. Federal Reserve Board members, for instance, serve for 14 years. Regulatory agency commissioners are appointed by the president, but their terms are staggered, so that no single president is able to drastically change the nature of the agency by appointing multiple commissioners.

In almost all countries other than the United States, the role of regulatory agencies is performed by the regular administrative departments of government and, in the case of utilities and public transportation, often by means of state ownership.