U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Tuesday criticized the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for what he described as straying from its primary mission and urged reforms to refocus on safety and security.
Speaking at the group’s triennial assembly in Montreal, Duffy said the United Nations aviation body has “extended itself far beyond its proper mandate—wasting critical resources on social programs or climate financing initiatives that have nothing to do with the safety, security and efficiency of the global air transportation system,” Reuters reported.
He also said that U.S. support for ICAO in the future will be weighed against how the country views the organization’s progress towards reform.
The remarks came as ICAO members debated environmental goals, including ones related to a 2050 target of net zero emissions. Apostolos Tzitzikostas, European commissioner for sustainable transport and tourism, told the assembly that, given the interconnectedness of the many issues surrounding the aerospace industry, addressing climate concerns remains consistent with ICAO’s safety and security priorities.
“None of these elements can be viewed in isolation,” Tzitzikostas said.
The United States also raised objections to new international levies on premium travel proposed by the Global Solidarity Levies Task Force, which France, Kenya and Barbados have endorsed. In a working paper, the U.S. argued the fees would “undermine the integrity and efficiency of the global air transportation system.” Duffy added that such charges are “at odds with ICAO principles… Why should international air transportation be singled out?”
Perhaps there is an FAA Administrator who would be better suited to talk about aviation subjects.
Sean Duffy has NO experience in transportation and spaceflight and international affairs and cooperation… and appears to have no say-so in related Trump’s ‘beautiful-tariffs’ that hamstring land-air-sea-space transportation.
Whether the current administration likes it or not, commercial aviation will become more and more a target in the transportation arena, when it comes to climate change issues. There is sound scientific evidence that high altitude aircraft emissions contribute to global warming not only in the production of greenhouse gases but also in the production of particulates that promote cirrus cloud formation that traps more of the sun’s heat. The combined affect of these radiative forcing phenomena currently result in a 3%-5% contribution to global warming. This number will double over the next few decades along with the projected growth of commercial aviation. If the US wants to remain a leader in commercial aviation it can’t ignore this issue, because if it does, it will be left behind as other countries offer solutions to the problem.
Mr Duffy may not have much aviation experience but he is spot on about ICAO wasting money on things like “climate change” and other items that have nothing to do with aviation safety and efficiency. ICAO has never been friendly to GA. Very few ICAO member governments are democracies and even those countries have been hostile to GA or have taxed GA out of existence. Why else do so many student pilots from overseas come to the US for training. The rest don’t believe in freedom anyway much less having airplanes flying without direct government control.