What makes a “top” business? Similar metrics guide identification in any market: total sales or revenue, brand recognition and “corporate responsibility.” It can be an engaging armchair exercise to determine which enterprises best lead various sectors of the global economy. Yet few economic indicators determine longevity or predict government or media scrutiny.

Profitability in aviation may include passengers carried, cargo pounds transported, articles and aircraft maintained, parts produced or even certificates held. However, longevity depends on avoiding bad press and fending off the enforcement branch of executive agencies, the U.S. Congress or another lawmaking body.

Perhaps by taking a qualitative view we can define the core actions making a person distinguished in aviation, regardless of how they stack up in numeric categories:

(1) Showing Compliance It may not be public or newsworthy, but the best aviation stakeholders acknowledge the power the civil aviation authorities have over the success of their business. Some let regulators lead them around by the nose; others do not accept an inspector’s preference or bow before the power of agency guidance. Aviation leaders base their dealings with the government first on showing and maintaining compliance with the plain language of aviation safety rules. Not only does it make their business better—giving in today can avoid considerable problems tomorrow—but upholding commonsense standards serves the industry at large by balancing compliance with good business, ethics and humanitarian practices.

(2) Training for Competency The aviation industry’s workforce crisis has been well chronicled. ARSA has supported a wide range of efforts in workforce development, including successfully pushing for grant funding for recruitment and retention. Those efforts are great at grabbing headlines, but training and skill development policies will be key to building careers, business acumen and sustainability. The association’s expertise has focused on turning regulatory policy toward the people problem to promote pathways, bolster the agency’s own knowledge standards and improve methods for supporting industry training. The standards of aviation employers depend on well-trained individuals, as does the flexibility of the government mandated to regulate them.

(3) Public Participation Engaged aviation professionals show up where colleagues, regulators, customers and suppliers gather. This summer, ARSA has practiced this policy from small regional gatherings to international roundtables. ARSA’s president has proudly carried his association “champion” placard to events and expositions around the world, including the Paris Air Show. Showing up not only advances individual and company needs, but also supports the industry’s voice in calling out larger issues.

(4) Understanding Connections Even an organization whose bread-and-butter value is in regulatory compliance recognizes the origin and authority of rules—it all starts with the law. Around the civil aviation world, authorities derive power from elected bodies. The U.S. Congress authorizes the FAA, a cycle that will be coming to a head once again this fall. The European Parliament established the European Aviation Safety Agency in 2002, and its member states grant it ongoing authority. Aviation businesses must cultivate relationships with their lawmakers to press for top-level policies based on facts and in reality.

These are just a few ways effective aerospace stakeholders become and stay leaders. To be in the “top” cadre is possible for businesses of any size, with any customer base, holding any certification; it is not reserved for the corporations attracting the attention of the media. Participatory members of the aviation community improve their own position while leveling the field for colleagues.

Brett Levanto is vice president of operations of Obadal, Filler, MacLeod & Klein, 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.