AVIATION CONTROL

Grey River Argus, 22 September 1944, Page 8

AVIATION CONTROL

U.S. CALLS WORLD CONFERENCE. WASHINGTON, Sept. 11. The United States has invited all of the United Nations, and virtually all of the neutral nations to a world aviation conference in America on November 11, to chart post-war world air routes. The conference will also be invited (1) To establish an interim council to serve as a clearing house and an advisory regulatory agency for a period necessary to bring about the creation of a permanent aeronautical body; (2) To agree upon principles to be followed in the establishment of that body, along with a permanent treaty covering both economic and technical aspects of international aviation. Th e _ United States already has had a preliminary discussion of the conference subjects with British, Russian, Chinese and other governments, all of which agree on the need for an aviation agreement, and for controlled development of the air transport industry on an international, scale. The problem of immediate post-war operations will probably be solved in two stages: (1) Military; transport lines established during the, .war, may continue to serve the European area, with increasing collaboration with private lines, until an aviation conference has worked out an assignment of routes and private operations can be started on a wide scale. (2) Private operations will take over, under supervision of their respective governments, which, in turn, will depend upon an interim council’s advice co bring about orderly profitable operations, and eliminate any injustices resulting from the initial provisional system. Those governments who have participated in preliminary talks agreed that, generally, international planes should have the right to fly over any foreign country as necessary, and also to make non traffic stops; that no two countries should agree to exclude all other countries from operating into their territries; that the traffic within one country and its directly controlled political divisions should be exclusively for that country’s own air lines, except where the right Co such operations is specifically given to an outsider; that rates and competitive practices should be controlled, and subsidies be gradually curtailed; that there is urgent need to standardise operating safety measures, navigation aids, and communications facilities. The ultimate aim of these tentative undertakings is the creation of a world civil aviation authority, but there is no agreement exactly, as to how much authority such body should possess, nor on the extent to Which competition should be curtailed. Canada, for instance, proposes that a world agency should have considerable power to assign air [routes or deny them to different ‘ countries, while the United States believes the body’s powers should be I more of an advisory nature.