Wrench, Rod and Reel Teaching You How to Fish

If you catch a man a fish, he eats for a day. If you teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime. In the aviation world, your mechanic certificate might be your rod and reel but your hook won’t be swallowed without bait.

Directors of maintenance have a broad range of responsibilities: managing operations and personnel, ensuring regulatory compliance and dealing with the government, directing large systems and occasionally stepping in to turn a wrench. To expect a DOM to advocate expertly on behalf of a business or the industry might seem a step too far. In truth, with the right tools there is no one with a better aviation maintenance story for lawmakers, media, future employees and the general public than you.

This is when a strong trade association must provide constant sources of bait for its members. At the Aeronautical Repair Station Association (ARSA), staff members constantly provide the tools, guidance and information for aviation maintenance practitioners to use.

While you’re focused on keeping the work moving and fleet in the air, ARSA will arm you for dealing with the governmental and business forces forever pressing on your hangar door. ARSA puts the tools in your kit — the bait for your rod and reel, to continue the metaphor — with which you can feed yourself and the industry.

For today’s fishing lesson, a new lure for the tackle box is your Internet browser’s bookmark bar. ARSA has built a foundation of Web-based resources to help you deal with the government, engage lawmakers and communicate the value and excitement of their work to future generations of professionals:

1. ARSA.org: The association’s main Web site presents a constant stream of news updates, analysis and resources, including tool kits and issue pages to help members handle the ever-changing business environment.

2. ARSAAction.org: Your voice matters in Washington and ARSA’s grassroots action site will help amplify it on Capitol Hill.

3. AVMRO.arsa.org: The aviation maintenance industry’s information and education portal.

To get started, visit the AVMRO site right now. Complete with data, descriptions and links to valuable resources, the portal is your go-to reference for describing or understanding the global aviation maintenance industry. On the main page is a particularly important lure: “You Can’t Fly Without Us — The World of Aviation Maintenance.”

ARSA produced this industry documentary to capture the vital nature of the maintenance industry and introduce it to any audience. Take advantage of this work and use it for your benefit. Get it on your Web site and into marketing materials. Show it to your colleagues and your congresspeople. Send it to recruiting fairs or high school guidance counselors. Add your story alongside the images and descriptions of a thriving and vital industry, and take your place with the men and women who keep the world safely in flight.

Make “You Can’t Fly Without Us” the first lure used with your rod and reel. Step into the water and begin feeding yourself, and your workforce, for a lifetime. 

Brett Levanto is director of operations of Obadal, Filler, MacLoed & Klein managing firm and client communications in conjunction with regulatory and legislative policy initiatives. He provides strategic and logistical support for ARSA, Associated Equipment Distributors and the Aviation Technician Education Council.