A History of International Civil Aviation: From its Origins through Transformative Evolution

by Alan Dobson

Overview

Professor Alan Dobson explains the development of international civil aviation from its origins in the early twentieth century, when there were no passenger services, and obviously no infrastructure to support them, to the present day with the sleek comfort, safety and timely efficiency of the A380 with its range just short of 10,000 miles, maximum capacity of 853 passengers and cruising speed of 560 miles per hour.

Delivering that explanation is, however, fraught with difficulties because it is not just a story of technical advances. Planes cannot fly internationally without states granting them permission via air services agreements (ASAs) and such permission has always been accompanied by conditions. Among other things, this created the central and fundamental problem for international civil aviation: tension between national sovereignty over air space on the one hand and a growing need to avoid ‘narrow-minded restrictions’ on the other in order to allow international civil aviation to flourish. Explaining the interplay between these two requirements runs as a major theme throughout the book.

This book will be of direct interest to students of aviation, modern history, international relations and transport. It is also of value to airline industry professionals and government transport departments.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138745599
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	04/25/2017
Pages:	146
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Alan Dobson began his career at Swansea University 1978-99 and returned as an honorary Professor in Politics and International Relations in 2014. Between 2011-14 he was an honorary professor in the School of International Relations, St. Andrews University and before that Professor of Politics at Dundee University, 1999-2011. He was a Fellow of both the Royal Historical Society and the Royal Aeronautical Society for several years. He held a Senior Research Fellowship at the Nobel Institute, Oslo, 1997; the Lenna Fellowship St. Bonaventure University, NY, 2005; a Distinguished Visiting Research Professor Fellowship at the McBride Center for International Business Studies, Baylor University, Texas, 2008, and a Fulbright Fellowship again at Baylor in 2012. In 2014 he won the Virginia Military Institute’s Adam’s Centre annual Cold War Essay prize. He is the founder of the Transatlantic Studies Association, editor of the Journal of Transatlantic Studies and has published extensively on Anglo-American relations, economic warfare and the international airline system. His most recent books are FDR and Civil Aviation: Flying Strong, Flying Free (London & New York: Palgrave, 2011), and co-edited with Steve Marsh Anglo-American Relations: Contemporary Perspectives (London and New York, Routledge, 2012/2013).

Table of Contents

Foreword

Abbreviations

Chapter 1. Introduction: From Civil Aviation’s Origins to the Paris Convention 1919

Chapter 2. The inter-war predatory bilateral system 1919-1939

Chapter 3. Wartime Planning and The Chicago Conference 1939-44

Chapter 4. The Chicago-Bermuda Regime – its operation and the challenge of deregulation 1945-1992

Chapter 5. Creating the Single European Aviation Market

Chapter 6. Open Skies and a fully globalised world market – challenge and reality 1992-2016

Chapter 7. Conclusion: Unfinished Business?

Bibliography

Index

Editorial Reviews

"The primary documents, along with the author’s years of experience make this work a valuable contribution to somewhat a diffuse body of knowledge: the book succeeds in packing many important aspects of the debates surrounding the liberalization of commercial aviation." -Guillaume de Syon, Albright College, USA

From the Publisher