ARSA to Congress: You Can’t Fly Without 300,000 American Aviation Workers
WASHINGTON – On Mar. 18, the Aeronautical Repair Station Association (ARSA) hosted a dual-premiere event on Capitol Hill to provide both visual and quantitative evidence for the importance of the aviation maintenance industry to American lives and livelihoods.
At a congressional briefing in the Rayburn House Office Building, Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.) helped the association unveil You Can’t Fly Without Us – The World of Aviation Maintenance. The seven-minute documentary was developed as part of a series of informational public-television features and is intended to provide a foundational introduction to the work of the men and women who keep the world safely in flight.
The video can be seen on AVMRO.arsa.org, the aviation maintenance industry’s information portal.
After the screening, ARSA released the 2015 Global Fleet and MRO Economic Assessment, prepared by CAVOK, a division of Oliver Wyman. David Marcontell, CAVOK’s vice president, presented an overview of the report’s findings, noting that the total worldwide market for commercial aviation maintenance activity will surpass $100 billion by 2025. On American soil, Marcontell noted that the industry employs nearly 300,000 men and women and generates more than $43 billion in economic activity, while producing more than $5 billion in federal corporate and individual income taxes.
The full report, as well as a fact sheet illustrating U.S. state-by-state employment figures, can be found in ARSA’s economic data center at arsa.org/news-media/economic-data.
“Each year, [the Global Fleet and MRO Economic Assessment] continues to paint a clear picture of a complex, but vibrant industry,” Marcontell said before the event. “People across the world are becoming more connected with each other and demanding even more from the aviation industry to carry them and their products safely and cost-effectively around the globe. As air carriers and other aviation businesses respond to this demand, the already-dynamic aviation maintenance market will march right along in step.”
“The message here is pretty simple,” said Christian A. Klein, ARSA’s executive vice president. “Every single time you land safely, or pick a loved-one up at the airport, or have a package arrive on your doorstep, there’s a maintenance provider somewhere for you to thank. These repair stations, maintenance facilities and component shops – the businesses that ARSA represents every day – are part of a complex global network of services that are vital to our national and global economy. We can tell those stories in many different ways, and this report and our documentary make key points in the overall discussion: You can’t fly without us.”
ARSA is the only association devoted to the unique needs of the global civil aviation maintenance industry. We are dedicated to helping our member companies run their operations more efficiently and effectively, while continuing to ensure the safety of aircraft worldwide. To learn more about our dedicated work on behalf of both industry stakeholders and the flying public, please visit ARSA.org.
