ARSA CORNER
INVENTING THE SAME WHEEL
BY BRETT LEVANTO, VICE PRESIDENT OF COMMUNICATIONS, AERONAUTICAL REPAIR STATION ASSOCIATION WORKING SEPARATELY TO INVENT THE SAME WHEEL.
The illustration was used by the FAA’s Jim Brough during the fi nal panel of the agency’s inaugural Aviation Workforce Symposium in September 2018. It was the end of a full day during which industry leaders had described the most- pressing challenge facing the aviation community — fi nding and retaining its technical workforce of the future. Participants had alternated between describing the stark reality of modern recruitment and celebrating small victories through various initiatives, programs and eff orts meant to stimulate the development of new talent.
The expression has stuck with me in the intervening 12 months, during which time I’ve been working with the agency to update career- related guidance, supporting industry colleagues’ eff orts to overhaul training rules and amplifying – whenever I could – good examples of student engagement. As part of that continuing work, in early October of this year I found myself on the phone with Brough, manager of the National Aviation and Space Education Program. Our purpose was to lay out our next year of “lifts” (both heavy and light) in support of the aviation community’s desperate need to recruit new personnel and birth new career opportunities. We began by refl ecting back on that day at Reagan National
Airport – where we all fought the distraction of the constant stream of arrivals and departures easily-visible on Runway 1 out the window – when Brough and I had both tried to give shape to the technical skills crises and bring form to the resources and eff orts available to combat it. On that day, he provided the most insightful line of the event. Refl ecting back on past periods of workforce crisis, Brough noted that all the money and resources invested in solutions seemed to go to waste for lack of a centralized focus. “We all were inventing our own wheels,” he said. We’re still doing it today. For years, ARSA members
have been increasingly clear that technician recruitment is one of the most pressing challenges facing the industry. The association has become a leading proponent of eff orts to improve aviation skills. In support of that work, I’ve gotten to learn from industry groups, businesses, military facilities, policymakers and educators about the long history of aviation workforce development and what’s going on in the aviation community right now.
In all those interactions, I’m
repeatedly impressed with the many programs and projects out there. These initiatives support education, produce public relations, foster community-based relationships,
generate information resources and otherwise enhance the opportunities for possible applicants to learn about aviation careers and fi gure out how to start (and sustain) one. What’s equally surprising, though, is the absence of interconnection among and between these programs. When relaying what I’ve learned about, say, an apprenticeship program or regional partnership, other industry professionals are routinely pleasantly surprised to learn about the good work that’s being done. In the case of my recent call, it was the Aerospace Maintenance Competition – an absolute triumph of showcasing aviation skills and the talented technicians utilizing them. During my own participation in the 2018 symposium, I dutifully cited ARSA’s numbers regarding costs to the industry (a topic we reinforce every year), described the direct connection between human capital and business performance and highlighted the work of an ARSA- led industry-wide coalition to pass legislation establishing a maintenance workforce grant program (work that continues today as the group draws close to solidifying congressional funding for those grants). Upon returning to my seat that
day and many times since, I listened with interest about the many things being done to attract new people, train them well and put them to
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DOMmagazine.com | nov 2019
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