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Alamo Colleges DistrictCareer Explorer

Airfield Operations Specialists

Part of Transportation, Distribution & Logistics, in the Transportation Systems/Infrastructure Planning, Management and Regulation pathway.

Job zone 3: medium preparationO*NET 53-2022.00

What the work is

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.

On a typical day

  • Implement airfield safety procedures to ensure a safe operating environment for personnel and aircraft operation.
  • Plan and coordinate airfield construction.
  • Coordinate with agencies, such as air traffic control, civil engineers, or command posts, to ensure support of airfield management activities.
  • Monitor the arrival, parking, refueling, loading, and departure of all aircraft.
  • Train operations staff.
  • Relay departure, arrival, delay, aircraft and airfield status, and other pertinent information to upline controlling agencies.

What it pays

$47,490
Median pay per year, San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX metro
New workers start near $36,660
Experienced workers reach $80,600
  1. $37k10th
  2. $42k25th
  3. $47kMedian
  4. $49k75th
  5. $81k90th
Wage percentiles: 10th $36,660, 25th $42,340, Median $47,490, 75th $49,140, 90th $80,600

About 30 people do this job in the San Antonio area.

Job outlook

U.S. projection, 2024 to 2034.

+4%

U.S. employment change

1,600

openings a year nationwide, from growth and people leaving

16,900

employed nationwide in 2024

Typical entry education: High school diploma or equivalent · Training: Long-term on-the-job training

Skills this career uses

The skills O*NET rates most important for the job, with how much of each the work needs on a 1 to 7 scale.

  1. Monitoring4.1
  2. Active Listening4.0
  3. Reading Comprehension4.0
  4. Coordination4.0
  5. Speaking3.9
  6. Critical Thinking3.9
  7. Writing3.3
  8. Complex Problem Solving3.3

Education people in this job have

Share of workers by highest education, from O*NET surveys. It shows what others did, not what you must do.

  1. High school or less34%
  2. Some college15%
  3. Associate degree1%
  4. Bachelor's degree51%

Job zone 3, medium preparation: Training, an associate degree, or a few years of related experience.

Alamo programs that lead here

No Alamo program is mapped to this career yet. Many careers start from a transfer pre-major or a related program.

Browse all programs

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