Airfield Operations Specialists
US occupation · SOC 53-2022
Job titles people report: Airfield Operations Specialist, Airport Operations Agent, Airport Operations Coordinator, Airport Operations Officer, Airport Operations Specialist, Flight Follower, Operations Agent, Operations Coordinator, Operations Officer, Operations Specialist
Pay and outlook
- Median annual wage, May 2025
- $56,850
- Half earn more, half earn less
- Middle half earn
- $42,000 – $77,340
- 25th to 75th percentile
- People employed, May 2025
- 15,190
- Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)
- Projected change, 2025–35
- +7.8%
- Growing at twice the all-jobs rate or more (7%+)
- Openings a year (projected)
- 1,500
- New jobs plus replacing people who leave
- Typical education to enter
- High school diploma or equivalent
- BLS
- All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
- Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
- Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.
What the work involves
Ensure the safe takeoff and landing of commercial and military aircraft. Duties include coordination between air-traffic control and maintenance personnel, dispatching, using airfield landing and navigational aids, implementing airfield safety procedures, monitoring and maintaining flight records, and applying knowledge of weather information.
Main tasks
- Inspect airfield conditions to ensure compliance with federal regulatory requirements.
- Implement airfield safety procedures to ensure a safe operating environment for personnel and aircraft operation.
- Conduct inspections of the airport property and perimeter to maintain controlled access to airfields.
- Assist in responding to aircraft and medical emergencies.
- Initiate or conduct airport-wide coordination of snow removal on runways and taxiways.
- Manage wildlife on and around airport grounds.
- Coordinate communications between air traffic control and maintenance personnel.
- Perform and supervise airfield management activities, including mobile airfield management functions.
Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.
Getting in
- Typical education to enter (BLS)
- High school diploma or equivalent
- Training once hired: long-term on-the-job training
- O*NET Job Zone 3
- Medium preparation
- Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Interests it suits
The strongest of the six O*NET interest types for this occupation, highest first. The short glosses are ours.
- Conventional: organising information, records and procedures
- Realistic: hands-on work with tools, machines, plants or animals
- Enterprising: leading, persuading and making business decisions
Fields of study that lead here
From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 1 programme to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.
Fields
Our college matcher doesn't offer this field as a major, so we can't suggest colleges for it here.
Transportation and Materials Moving
- Air Traffic Controller
Related careers
Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.
- Air Traffic Controllers
$148,080 median · +1.7% projected
- First-Line Supervisors of Passenger Attendants
$62,890 median · +3% projected
- Commercial Pilots
$123,220 median · +5.2% projected
- Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers
$232,140 median · +8.3% projected
- Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers
$107,230 median · +6.1% projected
- Railroad Conductors and Yardmasters
$78,000 median · +0.9% projected
Sources
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. CollegeMatcher has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET 31.0 Database · CC BY 4.0
Changes: we show the core tasks in the O*NET database with the highest importance ratings (up to eight, in that order), the top three O*NET interest types by score, and shortened Job Zone names. Titles, descriptions and task text are unchanged.
Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Projections, typical entry education and training: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–35. Fields of study: NCES and BLS CIP 2020–SOC 2018 Crosswalk. All public domain. OEWS · Employment Projections · CIP–SOC crosswalk