Careers / Airfield Operations Specialists

Airfield Operations Specialists — Career Decision Dashboard

United States

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Median annual wage

$56,850

United States, 2025

Employment

15,190

United States, 2025

Typical education

Bachelor's Degree

Job Zone 3

Skills identified

35

10 related careers

Career overview

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.

O*NET code
53-2022.00
Job zone
3
Experience required
Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years

Typical 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.

Choose a location

Salary analysis — United States

$35,870
10th
$42,000
25th
$56,850
Median
$77,340
75th
$102,120
90th

10th percentile

$35,870

25th percentile

$42,000

75th percentile

$77,340

90th percentile

$102,120

Most important skills

  • Monitoring4.0
  • Active Listening4.0
  • Reading Comprehension3.8
  • Coordination3.8
  • Speaking3.8
  • Critical Thinking3.8
  • Complex Problem Solving3.4
  • Writing3.4
  • Judgment and Decision Making3.3
  • Active Learning3.3
  • Instructing3.3
  • Systems Analysis3.1

What skills do you need?

Select the skills you already have

Skills listed are those O*NET rates at importance 3.0 or above for this occupation. Set your own level on the same 0–7 O*NET scale.

Skill coverage

0%

0 of 18 identified skills

Matched

0

Missing

18

Your selected skills cover approximately 0% of the skills identified for this occupation in O*NET. This is a coverage measure of listed skills only — it is not a qualification, hiring or interview outcome.

Skills to develop

SkillImportanceRequired levelYour levelGap
Monitoring4.04.1Not selected4.1
Active Listening4.04.0Not selected4.0
Reading Comprehension3.84.0Not selected4.0
Coordination3.84.0Not selected4.0
Speaking3.83.9Not selected3.9
Critical Thinking3.83.9Not selected3.9
Complex Problem Solving3.43.3Not selected3.3
Writing3.43.3Not selected3.3
Judgment and Decision Making3.33.3Not selected3.3
Active Learning3.33.3Not selected3.3
Instructing3.33.1Not selected3.1
Systems Evaluation3.13.1Not selected3.1
Systems Analysis3.13.0Not selected3.0
Time Management3.13.0Not selected3.0
Social Perceptiveness3.13.0Not selected3.0
Learning Strategies3.03.1Not selected3.1
Service Orientation3.03.0Not selected3.0
Operations Monitoring3.02.9Not selected2.9

Ordered by required level gap multiplied by O*NET importance. No prediction or recommendation is implied.

Related careers

How salary varies by location

LocationMedianEmploymentYear
KY$123,2902902025
Phoenix, AZ$88,4201302025
San Jose, CA$86,880502025
San Francisco, CA$85,6802402025
Seattle, WA$84,0501402025
WA$84,0501502025
Philadelphia, PA$81,9501202025
Denver, CO$81,740402025
Portland, OR$81,350302025
Atlanta, GA$78,9202402025
AL$78,5902025
AZ$77,5701602025
CO$77,500702025
Cincinnati, OH$76,1001402025
OR$75,130502025
VA$72,2502802025
AK$71,5101602025
Detroit, MI$69,5602502025
NM$69,090502025
GA$66,7903402025
All locations with published data

Career transition paths

Compare the skills of a career you hold today with Airfield Operations Specialists to see shared skills, target-only skills and skill overlap.

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Career and skills data: O*NET 31.0.

Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, 2025 (May 2025 release).

Figures are periodic published survey snapshots, not real-time market rates.