International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
Liberty University
AVIA 409 - Safety Management Systems
Professor: Andrew Walton
2022
Description
The constitution of ICAO is the Convention on International Civil Aviation, drawn up by a
conference in Chicago in November and December 1944, and to which each ICAO Contracting State is a
party. This Convention is also known as the Chicago Convention). In October 1947, ICAO became a
specialised agency of the newly-established United Nations.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, /ˌaɪˈkeɪˌoʊ/ eye-KAY-oh) 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.[2] ICAO headquarters are located in the Quartier International of Montreal, Quebec,
Canada.
The ICAO Council adopts standards and recommended practices concerning air navigation, its
infrastructure, flight inspection, prevention of unlawful interference, and facilitation of border-crossing
procedures for international civil aviation. ICAO defines the protocols for air accident investigation that
are followed by transport safety authorities in countries signatory to the Chicago Convention on
International Civil Aviation.
The Air Navigation Commission (ANC) is the technical body within ICAO. The commission is
composed of 19 commissioners, nominated by the ICAO's contracting states and appointed by the ICAO
Council.[3] Commissioners serve as independent experts, who although nominated by their states, do not
serve as state or political representatives. International Standards And Recommended Practices are
developed under the direction of the ANC through the formal process of ICAO Panels. Once approved by
the commission, standards are sent to the council, the political body of ICAO, for consultation and
coordination with the member states before final adoption.
ICAO is distinct from other international air transport organizations, particularly because it alone
is vested with international authority (among signatory states): other organizations include the
International Air Transport Association (IATA), a trade association representing airlines; the Civil Air
Navigation Services Organization (CANSO), an organization for Air navigation service providers (ANSPs);
and the Airports Council International, a trade association of airport authorities.
There are currently 191 Member States.
How ICAO Works
The following description is given by ICAO itself:
"According to the terms of the Convention, the Organization is made up of an Assembly, a
Council of limited membership with various subordinate bodies and a Secretariat. The Chief Officers are
the President of the Council and the Secretary General.
The Assembly, composed of representatives from all Contracting States, is the sovereign body of
ICAO. It meets every three years, reviewing in detail the work of the Organization and setting policy for
the coming years. It also votes a triennial budget.
The Council, the governing body which is elected by the Assembly for a three-year term, is
composed of 36 States. The Assembly chooses the Council Member States under three headings: States
of chief importance in air transport, States which make the largest contribution to the provision of
facilities for air navigation, and States whose designation will ensure that all major areas of the world
are represented. As the governing body, the Council gives continuing direction to the work of ICAO. It is
in the Council that Standards and Recommended Practices are adopted and incorporated as Annexes to
the Convention on International Civil Aviation. The Council is assisted by the Air Navigation Commission
(technical matters), the Air Transport Committee (economic matters), the Committee on Joint Support of
Air Navigation Services and the Finance Committee.
The Secretariat, headed by a Secretary General, is divided into five main divisions: the Air
Navigation Bureau, the Air Transport Bureau, the Technical Co-operation Bureau, the Legal Bureau, and
the Bureau of Administration and Services. In order that the work of the Secretariat shall reflect a truly
international approach, professional personnel are recruited on a broad geographical basis.
ICAO works in close co-operation with other members of the United Nations family such as the
World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the
Universal Postal Union, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Maritime
Organization (IMO). Non-governmental organisations which also participate in ICAO's work include the
International Air Transport Association International Air Transport Association (IATA), the Airports
Council International (ACI), the International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations International
Federation of AirLine Pilots Associations (IFALPA), and the International Council of Aircraft Owner and
Pilot Associations (IAOPA)."
ICAO is responsible for:
Safety
Registration
Airworthiness
Prevention of economic waste
Fair competition
Standardization
Aviation Law
ICAO uses 4-letter airport codes (vs. IATA's 3-letter codes). The ICAO code is based on the region
and country of the airport—for example, Charles de Gaulle Airport has an ICAO code of LFPG, where L
indicates Southern Europe, F, France, PG, Paris de Gaulle, while Orly Airport has the code LFPO (the 3rd
letter sometimes refers to the particular flight information region (FIR) or the last two may be arbitrary).
In most parts of the world, ICAO and IATA codes are unrelated; for example, Charles de Gaulle Airport
has an IATA code of CDG. However, the location prefix for continental United States is K, and ICAO codes
are usually the IATA code with this prefix. For example, the ICAO code for Los Angeles International
Airport is KLAX. Canada follows a similar pattern, where a prefix of C is usually added to an IATA code to
create the ICAO code. For example, Calgary International Airport is YYC or CYYC. (In contrast, airports in
Hawaii are in the Pacific region and so have ICAO codes that start with PH; Kona International Airport's
code is PHKO. Similarly, airports in Alaska have ICAO codes that start with PA. Merrill Field, for instance
is PAMR.) Not all airports are assigned codes in both systems; for example, airports that do not have
airline service do not need an IATA code.
Airline codes
ICAO also assigns 3-letter airline codes (versus the more-familiar 2-letter IATA codes—for
example, UAL vs. UA for United Airlines). ICAO also provides telephony designators to aircraft operators
worldwide, a one- or two-word designator used on the radio, usually, but not always, similar to the
aircraft operator name. For example, the identifier for Japan Airlines International is JAL and the
designator is Japan Air, but Aer Lingus is EIN and Shamrock. Thus, a Japan Airlines flight numbered 111
would be written as "JAL111" and pronounced "Japan Air One One One" on the radio, while a similarly
numbered Aer Lingus would be written as "EIN111" and pronounced "Shamrock One One One". In the
US, FAA practices require the digits of the flight number to be spoken in group format ("Japan Air One
Eleven" in the above example) while individual digits are used for the aircraft tail number used for
unscheduled civil flights.
Aircraft registrations
ICAO maintains the standards for aircraft registration ("tail numbers"), including the
alphanumeric codes that identify the country of registration. For example, airplanes registered in the
United States have tail numbers starting with N, and airplanes registered in Bahrain have tail numbers
starting with A9C.
Aircraft type designators
ICAO is also responsible for issuing 2-4 character alphanumeric aircraft type designators for
those aircraft types which are most commonly provided with air traffic service. These codes provide an
abbreviated aircraft type identification, typically used in flight plans. For example, the Boeing 747-100, -
200 and -300 are given the type designators B741, B742 and B743 respectively.
