Aviation Maintenance Leaders’ D.C. Tour Includes White House, DOT Stops
On March 10, a small group of senior aviation maintenance industry professionals participated in a series of collaborative discussions with high-ranking federal officials. The group began the day with a White House policy briefing, followed by stops at the Departments of Labor, State and Transportation.
The meetings were part of the Aeronautical Repair Station Association’s “Executive to Executive Briefings” series during which industry leaders have face-to-face discussions with government officials responsible for matters impacting aviation, manufacturing and international commerce. “E2E”, which was first hosted by ARSA in 2018, served as the official kick-off of the association’s 2020 Annual Conference.
Participation in the day of meetings is limited only to representatives from Conference sponsors, meaning those in attendance represent companies that are highly committed to ARSA’s broader goals of good government and reasonable oversight. The purpose of the day is to form and reinforce connections among and between agencies whose policies impacting repair stations and other aviation businesses. Getting beyond the walls of the FAA, where most aerospace stakeholders focus government engagement, facilitates better and broader understanding of key industry issues.
“The E2E day constantly reinforces both the fluid and consistent aspects of aviation policy,” said ARSA Executive Vice President Christian A. Klein, the association’s chief manager for the E2E Briefings. “Each year, we are able to address fundamental issues that we’ve been working on for years – availability of maintenance data, international regulatory harmony, a few others come to mind – but we also get to be on the front lines of new and emerging challenges facing the world economy.”
This year those emerging challenges included coronavirus response, increased scrutiny on certification and delegation practices resulting from the Boeing 737MAX and impacts of trade tensions between the U.S. and overseas partners. Since E2E participants represent multinational corporations, family-owned small businesses, aircraft parts manufacturers, service providers and industry service providers, the group was able to engage these topics from a number of angles.
The group got a break from its government meetings during a lunch stop at the Pennsylvania Avenue headquarters of Airlines for America. The association representing North American air carriers has been a close ally of ARSA for years, and its President & CEO Nick Calio welcomed participants to touch base on the policy priorities of an important set of maintenance industry customers: part 121 air carriers. After Calio was called away for a White House meeting concerning aerospace needs in response to COVID-19 business impacts, A4A Senior Vice President of Regulatory and Legislative Policy Sharon Pinkerton joined the group to continue the discussion.
Having completed its “E2E” day, ARSA will host members for a day of legislative engagement on Wednesday, March 11 before closing out the week with two days of regulatory and business content presented through its traditional Annual Repair Symposium.
