The great emphasis on expansion of civil aviation activities following the end of World War II caused the various nations of the world to join together in 1945 to establish the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The objective was to facilitate international operation of civil aircraft between countries.
To do this, it was necessary to standardize procedures governing licensing, rules of the air, aeronautical meteorology, charts, registration marks of aircraft, airworthiness, telecommunications, airports, air traffic services, search and rescue and other matters concerning facilitation and safety of flight.

The initial efforts of ICAO dealt primarily with the concerns of scheduled air transport services, which were being established in most countries of the world after the end of World War II. After some 10 years of ICAO operation, it became apparent to general aviation representatives, and to some staff members of ICAO, that most of the standards, procedures and other work being done in ICAO were oriented almost exclusively toward the operation of large airline transport aircraft. Clearly this was not appropriate for general aviation. However, the work being done in ICAO was being incorporated in the regulations of many nations and general aviation was beginning to suffer by having no "spokesman or voice" in the ICAO deliberations.

Means of providing that voice for general aviation in the meetings sponsored by ICAO were explored at length, with the ultimate decision to establish an international general aviation organization. Following consultations with ICAO officials, it was decided that the new general aviation organization would be modeled after the International Federation of Air Line Pilot Associations, which speaks in ICAO for the interests of the airline pilots.