DePaul's International Aviation Law Institute
welcomed 3,000 delegates to the 20th World Route Development Forum with
an exhibit on civil aviation's landmark Chicago Convention treaty, a
high-level panel discussion on the future of airline regulation, and an
address predicting the look of aviation in 2044.
Held September 20 to 23, 2014, at Chicago's McCormick Place, the
event brought together the largest range of airlines, airports, tourism
authorities, civil aviation authorities and other stakeholders
worldwide. This year's forum was held in Chicago to commemorate the 70th
anniversary of the Chicago Convention, the treaty that established the
International Civil Aviation Organization and governs the conduct of
international civil aviation.
To commemorate the Chicago Convention's 70th anniversary, visitors to
the exhibit hall were greeted by IALI's welcome pod, containing
historic film and video of the conference that created the Convention in
1944. At the pod's center was an original signed Chicago Convention,
which was donated to one of our professors by the U.S. Department of
State. Staffing the pod and greeting visitors is IALI Founding Director
and Professor Brian Havel, IALI Executive Director Steve Rudolph, FedEx/United Airlines Resident Research Fellow John Mulligan, and third-year law student Dan Ross, symposium editor of the DePaul Law Review.
On Sunday, September 21, Professor Havel moderated "Getting 'Smart' About Regulation: The
Regions Have Their Say," a panel discussion centered on the viability
of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in an age of
regionalism. Primary topics included whether the era of multilaterial
regulation via ICAO is fading and if future civil aviation regulation
should take place at the regional level. The panel members were Vijay
Poonoosamy, vice president of international and public affairs, Etihad
Airways; IALI advisory board member Sandra Chiu, president, Centre for
Aviation Policy and Economics; Sebastian Mikosz, CEO, LOT; and Jeremy
Robinson, legal director, Hill Dickinson LLP (London).
Following the panel discussion, John Byerly, IALI advisory board
member and former deputy assistant secretary of state, presented
"Aviation in 2044 -- 100 Years After the Chicago Convention," a look 30
years into the future of civil aviation. Byerly offered his insights
from the perspective of a long career as a U.S. diplomat, during which
he became the architect of many of the world's Open Skies air transport
agreements.