The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has urged aviation stakeholders to continue to be guided by the spirit of the 1944 Convention on International Civil Aviation, known as the Chicago Convention, in responding to the challenges facing aviation today and in the future.
Speaking at IATA’s Wings of Change Americas Conference in Chicago, the director general of IATA, Alexandre de Juniac, outlined principles to ensure aviation continues to live up to the legacy of the Chicago Convention.
In addition to maintaining safety as the industry’s highest priority, de Juniac urged aviation stakeholders to focus on:
“Seventy-five years ago, as World War II still raged, a group of far-sighted individuals met in Chicago and laid the foundations enabling the development of our globally interconnected and interdependent world through aviation.
Today, aviation has become the business of freedom, liberating us to pursue our dreams and fulfill our hopes, while powering economic growth and development”, said de Juniac.
De Juniac used the occasion to declare that aviation was also working towards its 2050 target of achieving a 50% reduction in net CO2 emissions compared to 2005.
In the United States, aviation supports 6.5 million jobs and contributes $779 billion to GDP including aviation-supported tourism, according to IATA’s just released report on the Value of Air Transport in the US.