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Aviation History
1950
1950 - 1851.PDF
FLIGHT, 5 October 1950 NATIONS AND AIRWAYS Towards a Truly International Outlook: Sir George Cribbett's R.Ae.S. British Commonwealth and Empire Lecture BEFORE the Royal Aeronautical Society last Thurs-day, September 28th, Sir George Cribbett, K.B.E.,C.M.G., Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, delivered the sixth British Commonwealth and Empire Lecture, under the title Some International Aspects of Air Transport. The principal sections of the paper are given, in slightly condensed form, below. Sir George confined himself to particular features of inter- national relationships in air transport arising in the economic field. It was, he said, in this field—of rights to pick up and set down traffic, and rates of carriage, subsidies and so on— rather than in the technical and legal fields, that the recon- ciliation of divergent national views, or the failure to reconcile them, would have the most profound effect on the future development of international air transport. Considerable pro- gress had already been made through the medium of I.C.A.O., established by the Chicago Convention, in securing the multi- lateral adoption of technical standards and practices which governed the safety of aircraft in operation. The attainment of international objectives in the technical field was in sight, but uniformity of approach, and multilateralism in the eco- nomic field, continued to elude their most ardent supporters. International relations in air transport attracted less atten- tion and interest—certainly in Great Britain—than did the organization and operation of our national air transport services. Yet air transport was, by hypothesis, an international economic activity in which every country of standing was either par- ticipating or intending to participate. Consequently, the basic policies, laws and principles now being evolved by the nations of the world must have a determinative influence on the pace and scope of the future development of international air trans- port. This was a suitable stage, therefore, at which to analyse and review the effects of policies and principles which had influenced post-war air transport development, and to consider future trends. We were deeply committed to the acceptance of certain basic conceptions which, through a series of international con- ferences and bilateral agreements, had almost become basic laws of international air transport, deeply enshrined in the thinking of all countries now members of I.C.A.O. The doctrine of the freedoms of the air, with its far-reaching implications, the principle of reciprocity in the exchange of commercial rights, the principle of internationally agreed fares and freight rates as a basis of international competition on scheduled air ser- vices, had all become firmly established in the post-war approach. It was important to realize that there could be no turning back of the clock on these fundamentals, which governed the approaches of all countries to their international relations in air transport. Only the complete failure of these basic laws to survive the test of experience would lead to their abandonment or supersession. For better or worse, the future course of events in international air transport, so far as the lecturer dared predict, seemed likely to stem from certain now- established concepts. The particular features of international air transport on which he would concentrate were: (a) exchange of rights of commercial operation—the multilateral and bilateral ap- proaches, (b) the importance and control of regulated fares, freight rates and mail rates; (c) subsidies. Of these, the main emphasis would be laid upon the first, but some mention of the other two features was necessary to complete the perspec- tive. Sir George embarked on his study with an examination of the exchange of rights of commercial operation. After con- sidering the pre-1939 period, he went on to deal with the wartime and post-war phase, during which the United King- dom had turned towards the doctrine of " the freedoms of the air'' which had since secured world-wide acceptance as a basic condition of the exchange of commercial rights. A contem- porary official document stated that the maximum of co- operation arid the elimination of uneconomic competition must involve consideration of the conception of the freedom of the air, which ought not to mean that the aircraft of any country could fly anywhere without any kind of restriction. It ought to mean, stated this document, that those countries and air- craft which were prepared to observe certain principles agreed internationally should not be prevented by other countries from enjoying certain minimum rights essential to operation. The document stated that freedom of the air was an undefined term and was variously interpreted as including: (1) The right of innocent passage. (2) The right to land for non-traffic purposes (e.g., refuelling, repair, emergency). (3) The right to land passengers, mails and freight embarked in the country of origin of the aircraft. (4) The right to embark passengers, mails and freight destined for the country of origin of the aircraft. (5) The right to convey passengers, mails and freight between two countries, neither being the country of origin of the aircraft. (6) The right to convey passengers, mails and freight between two points in any one country not being the country of origin of the aircraft. The "Freedoms" Here we had the birth of the analysis of the '' freedom of the air'' which gave rise to the Five Freedoms as we knew them to-day, and as they appeared in practically all international agreements. The Sixth Freedom described cabotage, which almost every country reserved to its own airlines—and it was commonly known as cabotage rather than the Sixth Freedom. With the permission of the author, Mr. Peter Masefield, a graphic illustration [reproduced here] of the "Freedoms" was annexed to the Paper. It was generally recognized, continued Sir George, that the right to pick up and set down traffic, embraced by Freedoms Three, Four and Five, would be conditional on the formulation of satisfactory machinery for regulating competition, but opinion was divided whether the non-traffic Freedoms (One and Two) could be conceded unconditionally. The question was of considerable importance to the United Kingdom, with its far-flung Colonial territories. Many of these territories lay athwart the main trunk routes of the world and were necessary staging points for international airline operation. Conse- quently they had an important economic value, even though they did not give rise to rights to pick up and set down traffic. The general conclusion was reached, however, that if general support were forthcoming for satisfactory principles of inter- national co-operation, these rights should be exchanged multi- laterally and unconditionally. United Kingdom policy towards international air transport was crystallized and presented in a White Paper of October, 1944, on the eve of the Chicago Conference. It had often been said by commentators on this policy, both at home and abroad, that it was dictated by the desire to secure a measure of protection for British air transport during the period of post-war rehabilitation. The policy, however, was entirely objective and was designed to secure orderly development of international air transport and to prevent a relapse into the
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