In response to the invitation of the United States Government, representatives of 54 nations met at Chicago from November 1 to December 7, 1944, to "make arrangements for the immediate establishment of provisional world air routes and services" and "to set up an interim council to collect, record and study data concerning international aviation and to make recommendations for its improvement." The Conference was also invited to "discuss the principles and methods to be followed in the adoption of a new aviation convention."
Exploratory conversations with a number of governments had already been conducted bilaterally by the United States Government, and the conference met with the texts of four draft proposals already prepared for its consideration by the Governments of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and Canada, and by Australia and New Zealand jointly