Washington, D.C., Feb. 10, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The EPAS Leadership Team is warning that the prolonged absence of a Senate-confirmed U.S. Ambassador to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is weakening American influence in a body that sets global aviation standards with direct consequences for safety, economic competitiveness, and national security.
ICAO, a United Nations technical agency established by the 1944 Chicago Convention, is responsible for coordinating international aviation safety, air navigation standards, and operational interoperability. In recent years, however, EPAS leaders argue the organization has drifted away from its core mission, elevating climate and social initiatives while critical safety and navigation priorities receive less emphasis.
“ICAO does not pause when the United States is absent,” said the EPAS Leadership Team. “It continues to make decisions—guided by those who show up.”
From 2022 to 2026, ICAO advanced major initiatives on emissions reduction, carbon offsetting, and alternative fuels. While those efforts are not disputed, aviation officials note that they have often outpaced consensus on costs, infrastructure readiness, and competitive impacts— areas where U.S. leadership has traditionally played a balancing role.
At the same time, issues central to U.S. interests—air navigation resilience, spectrum protection, and defenses against GPS jamming and spoofing—have slipped in priority, even as foreign states demonstrate growing capability to disrupt global navigation systems.
EPAS leaders say confirmation of Captain Jeff Anderson as U.S. Representative to ICAO would restore focus to the organization’s foundational mission. A retired airline Captain, former military aviator, and experienced aviation negotiator, Anderson has emphasized safety, navigation integrity, and economic realism as ICAO’s primary obligations.
“This is not about ideology or union politics,” the EPAS Leadership Team said. “It’s about restoring American leadership in a body that wields enormous influence over global aviation.”
ICAO’s Assembly meets only once every three years, and standards set in the next cycle will shape global aviation well into the 2030s.
“In ICAO, leadership vacuums do not produce neutrality or harmless posturing,” EPAS leaders warned. “They produce outcomes—and those outcomes increasingly undermine U.S. safety, economic, and national security interests.”
— EPAS Leadership Team
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