As I’m writing this, it’s hard to know what the world will be like for you when reading it.
Producing editorial content is always challenging, though usually in an entertaining way: Write a piece that contributes to a larger message while serving the general topic of the publication and doing so in a way that makes it interesting and timely for a reader 30 or more days later.
Usually we’re able to get it right — though sometimes there is a period of last-minute scrambling back to editors (thanks to them for constant patience and responsiveness) for updates. In aviation, the issues are consistent and the work to address them is slow. Like weathermen, we know that the immediate forecast might change but the overall climate is fairly predictable.
Now, there’s an international crisis that requires social distancing and business closures with extreme volatility in financial markets and a seeming reversal in aviation industry outlook.
In the face of this uncertainty, we focus on planning and preparing for a “new” reality. In mid-March, ARSA took actions and provided resources for responding to the national and international emergency.
We didn’t try to predict the specific results of those efforts a month later, but we will be using them as general instructions for what relief looks like in any time of crisis.
1 - Business planning and investment in people
In a March 17, 2020 letter directed to President Donald Trump and House and Senate leaders and distributed to all congressional offices, ARSA expressed its members’ concerns in light of maintenance cancellations and customers potentially unable to pay bills. Regardless of what the government’s intervention looks like, businesses have to focus on the continuity of operations and the safety of personnel. ARSA encourages its members to use business disruptions for training and other human development investments to bolster employee competency and productivity.
2 - Training and development
Obviously, training takes a big commitment…and the ability to keep people employed in the first place. The ARSA team has been heartened by the growing list of businesses and service providers offering additional benefits to the public as the world responds to the spread of the current virus. Though the association can’t invest in keeping workers productive, the team issued a 50 percent discount on all price levels for ARSA online training sessions.
3 - Focus on…and be…essential services
As federal and provincial/state government grows more and more prescriptive in virus-related policies; “non-essential” operations will be curtailed, keeping people home and shuttering businesses that don’t directly serve the public good.
While business leaders should let people work from home to the maximum extent possible and shuffle resources to cut back on non-mission-centric expenses — on the policy scale aviation businesses are clearly essential.
Repair stations and their business partners support needed government functions, such as emergency and police services, commercial air carrier passenger and cargo operations, general and business aviation operations, including humanitarian relief and essential health services. Repair stations maintain aircraft used by state and local governments (including law enforcement and medical services) and the U.S. military.
4 - Continuing government work
This one seems obvious, but there can be roadblocks to continuing work because of government workers curtailed from one-on-one contacts. In March, the White House directed government agencies to “maximize telework...while maintaining mission critical workforce needs.” Should this initiative — or additional “distancing” efforts — limit opportunity to interact with government employees, remote connectivity options to continue oversight (and related work) must be utilized.
To assist in “remote” engagement, ARSA is referring certificate holders to the industry-supported draft advisory circular outlining standards for oversight, inspections and testing performed using connectivity systems as readily available as a personal mobile device.
This is the structure of ARSA’s work for the industry during our time and a roadmap for continued operations in yours. No matter what changes between the completion of this writing and your coming upon the words, there’s one thing that will never change:
The world can’t fly without you.
Brett Levanto is vice president of operations of OFM&K managing firm and client communications in conjunction with regulatory and legislative policy initiatives. He provides strategic and logistical support for the Aeronautical Repair Station Association.
