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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 0580.PDF
574 FLIGHT CIVIL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION Problems in New States: The Need for Exchange of Experience By VICTOR L. G GORE LAST year 45 million people flew on the world's airlines. Comparing this figure with the z\ rnillion the world •* over who used airlines in 1937, the development of air transport in the post-war years becomes most strikingly apparent. This tremendous increase in the volume of transportation resulting from rapid technological progress has been accompanied by revolutionary changes in equipment and technique. New problems of airport design, runway construction and ground facilities followed in the wake of this development and improve ments in navigational and landing aids and communications pre sented new tasks to be solved by civil aviation administrations. Air transport operations have spread across the globe and prac tically all States—large and small—now have, or desire to have, a stake in them, or at least to provide the necessary ground facili ties. Of the 57 contracting States of I.C.A.O., 45 operate internal services, while as many as 24 have long-range or transoceanic operations. As about one-fifth of I.C.A.O.'s membership consists of recently established States, it is evident that the necessity for civil-aviation administration is no longer confined to those nations with a long-established aviation tradition, where the necessary specialized skill has developed together with the growth of techno logical know-how and resources. Countries which only recently joined the flying fraternity of nations, newly established States which have to build up their administrative machineries from scratch, or those which, after the desolation of war, re-entered aviation—to all these the setting-up of „civil aviation authorities has been beset with serious difficulties. The function of any enlightened government in relation to civil aviation can be best summed up in the clipped language of the 1945 Civil Aviation Act: "Organizing, carrying out and encourag ing measures for the development of civil aviation, for the design ing and production of civil aircraft, for the promotion of safety and efficiency in the use thereof, and for research into questions relating to civil air navigation." To handle effectively such a diverse field of responsibilities, an administration requires an adequate staff well versed in the differ ent branches of aeronautical activity. For the small State, the problem of setting up an adequate and efficient aviation administration is therefore much more difficult than for a dependent territory or for the larger or richer country. For while the former, dependent upon the mother country, is absolved from direct responsibility for a whole group of pro blems, the financial skill and material resources of the latter make the problem much easier. Leaving aside specific duties and authority arising from particular constitutional positions of civil-aviation administrations in different governments, the main pro blem facing such administration in a small state is how to cover the wide field of responsibilities with the usually limited material, technological and manpower resources at its disposal. A fundamental principle in public administration is a clear definition of administrative responsibility and authority. In aero nautical administration, concerned as it is with human activity in a strange and new element, this principle in particular should be carefully observed. It will become especially important in mis haps and accidents where a human weakness for "passing the buck" of responsibility might distort truth and facts and make future remedies impossible. The second principle is to ensure an absolute independence of judgement of the aeronautical authority by separating it entirely from direct operational and commercial responsibility. In other words, while the aeronautical authority inspires, plans and controls air commerce, it is not charged with the direct opera tion; conversely, those responsible for air-commerce operations are entirely divorced from the overall responsibility and authority of a country's civil aviation. The third fundamental principle of efficient aeronautical administration is to ensure that technical matters are dealt with by qualified personnel and that lines of authority and responsibility are as short and direct as possible. Supervision, control and policy in technical fields, and the work of technical-field officers, should be supervised by technically trained men. For each major function or group of functions, there should be someone on a senior executive level who can talk the same language as the field man on the operational job. MANY newly-established States and under-developed countries find themselves faced with the problem of setting up civil-avia tion administrations within the framework of their govern mental machinery. In many cases, lack of experience and shortage of trained personnel and material resources cause major difficulties. The author of this article touches briefly on some of the problems encountered during several years spent in assisting a newly-established State to set up its civil aviation administration. He also summarizes the contrasting types of organization in several countries, and makes a plea for interna tional exchange of information on such matters. In practically all countries, the framework of the civil aviation authority has been in a state of constant evolution. Parliamentary committees, civil service commissions, boards of advisers, experts, Planners and reformers have all grappled with the problem, adjust ing, modifying, reconstructing and reshuffling the structures. In the face of the dynamic expansion of civil aviation, it is indeed a good thing that government authority has not remained static and followed—if not aways precipitated—the dynamics of air commerce. The nature of these recommendations and structures varied, and varies, with the constitutional position of civil aviation in each country. But whether the civil aviation authority is involved in the financial control of the carriers, or whether it exercises a more superficial control, one common element emerges from all systems of civil aviation administrations: civil air commerce is subjected to more penetrating control, supervision and interven tion by the State than most other means of transportation. It is sometimes suggested that this is due to civil aviation hav ing developed mainly in a period generally marked by a wider interference of the State in the economic process. However, the fact that civil aviation evolves in a new element, that at this stage of its development it needs financial support from the State and that its progress is closely linked up with military development would appear to be a more correct explanation. Preparing a Plan.—The first step in the preparation of a blue print for such a structure is to survey the existing situation—to take stock of what there is, to analyse the needs of the country and its potentialities in aviation development from the geographical, economic, technical, demographical, political and financial angles. Such an analysis will serve as a starting-point for all studies and deliberations aimed at setting up or improving a civil aviation administration. In preparing the blueprint, the planner has to consider a country's current and future needs in civil aviation, and the avail able and potential manpower resources and to relate them all to the country's material capabilities. Academically perfect plans which do not reflect these elements are bound to relapse into the domain of frustrated planning. Finally, social and material con ditions will have a major bearing upon the success or failure of any such blueprint, and any pattern of an administrative system which ignores the psychological climate is conceived in a barren vacuum. It goes without saying that the actual organizational framework of civil-aviation administration in a smaller State must couple efficiency with economy in establishment. For reasons of economy and (even more frequently) because of lack of adequate skilled manpower resources, it will be impossible for a small administra tion to indulge in a high degree of specialization as is practised in some major countries. Nor will it be prudent to create high-level posts which would be occupied by medium-level experts. In such circumstances, an efficient organization would endeavour to ensure the correct chan neling of problems by grouping a number of technical services under one experienced head. In this manner, there is at least a common language assured between the operational technician and his high-level superiors. At the same time, younger men selected for ability and of adequate educational background should be placed as cadet-officers and in such positions in the adminis trative set-up as to enable them to acquire gradually the neces sary experience. Here fellowships granted by I.C.A.O. under the Technical Assistance Programme can (and indeed do) fulfil an important training function. But both for short-term as well as for long-term planning, these fellowships are best utilized if granted to younger men with higher education and an adequate
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