In your opinion, how impactful is an airbrush in achieving good work, vs good technique with with a paintbrush?

I know it's kind of a loaded question since plenty of people would say you need both, but in terms of priority which provides the biggest step up in quality? I'm actually here as a fishing lure maker, but realized there's a lot to learn from you all. In bait making/painting, it seems like a lot of people rely almost exclusively on an airbrush, while what I've seen of the minis community looks like a lot of people use airbrushes but still rely more heavily on painting by hand. What's your experience, and what would you tell a less experienced painter to prioritize to produce better work?