Aviation Inspectors Career, Salary and Skills
Aviation Inspectors have a BLS-reported national median annual wage of $92,100 based on the 2025 OEWS dataset, with reported national employment of 24,500. Wage data is published for 126 locations.
Occupation description
Inspect aircraft, maintenance procedures, air navigational aids, air traffic controls, and communications equipment to ensure conformance with Federal safety regulations.
O*NET code
53-6051.01
Job zone
3
Typical education
Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree
Experience
Over 10 years
National salary and employment
Median annual
$92,100
Hourly median
$44.28
Employment
24,500
Data year
2025
National salary distribution
Top skills
| Skill | Importance | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Critical Thinking | 4.00 | 4.00 |
| Reading Comprehension | 3.88 | 3.38 |
| Speaking | 3.88 | 4.00 |
| Active Listening | 3.88 | 3.38 |
| Operations Monitoring | 3.75 | 4.00 |
| Quality Control Analysis | 3.75 | 3.75 |
| Writing | 3.62 | 3.25 |
| Monitoring | 3.38 | 3.38 |
| Complex Problem Solving | 3.38 | 3.62 |
| Troubleshooting | 3.25 | 3.25 |
Typical tasks
- Examine aircraft access plates and doors for security.
- Investigate air accidents and complaints to determine causes.
- Recommend changes in rules, policies, standards, and regulations, based on knowledge of operating conditions, aircraft improvements, and other factors.
- Inspect work of aircraft mechanics performing maintenance, modification, or repair and overhaul of aircraft and aircraft mechanical systems to ensure adherence to standards and procedures.
- Examine maintenance records and flight logs to determine if service and maintenance checks and overhauls were performed at prescribed intervals.
- Inspect new, repaired, or modified aircraft to identify damage or defects and to assess airworthiness and conformance to standards, using checklists, hand tools, and test instruments.
- Approve or deny issuance of certificates of airworthiness.
- Prepare and maintain detailed repair, inspection, investigation, and certification records and reports.
Technology
- Adobe InDesign
- Adobe Photoshop
- Aircraft regulation databases
- Dassault Systemes CATIA
- IBM WebSphere MQ
- Microsoft Access
- Microsoft Active Server Pages ASP
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office software
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Microsoft Word
- Robotic workstation software
- SAP software
Aviation Inspectors salary by location
Areas with the highest reported employment for this occupation.
- Aviation Inspectors Salary in New York, NYMedian $93,420 · Employment 4,000
- Aviation Inspectors Salary in NYMedian $93,420 · Employment 3,720
- Aviation Inspectors Salary in TXMedian $101,440 · Employment 2,290
- Aviation Inspectors Salary in CAMedian $83,000 · Employment 1,790
- Aviation Inspectors Salary in FLMedian $101,470 · Employment 1,630
- Aviation Inspectors Salary in ILMedian $47,990 · Employment 1,130
- Aviation Inspectors Salary in NJMedian $49,250 · Employment 930
- Aviation Inspectors Salary in Dallas, TXMedian $126,010 · Employment 890
- Aviation Inspectors Salary in GAMedian $95,030 · Employment 880
- Aviation Inspectors Salary in AZMedian $62,250 · Employment 830
- Aviation Inspectors Salary in Miami, FLMedian $100,100 · Employment 820
- Aviation Inspectors Salary in Phoenix, AZMedian $51,990 · Employment 690
Related careers
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- Automotive Engineering TechniciansNational median $74,510
- Commercial PilotsNational median $123,220
- Industrial EngineersNational median $102,440
- Aerospace EngineersNational median $134,960
- Government Property Inspectors and InvestigatorsNational median $80,730
- Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems AssemblersNational median $65,380
Career and skills data: O*NET 31.0 (onetcenter.org). Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, 2025 (bls.gov/oes). Figures are published survey estimates, not real-time market data.