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Airfield Operations Specialists in North Carolina

Want to work as an Airfield Operations Specialists in North Carolina? Here’s what the data says. 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.

What do Airfield Operations Specialists Make in North Carolina?

For a airfield operations specialists working in North Carolina, the median annual wage is $36,050 per year (or roughly $17.33/hour).Pay can range from $18,320 at the 10th percentile to $65,110 at the 90th percentile.

Wage Statistic	Annual	Hourly
10th percentile	$18,320	$8.81
25th percentile	$22,940	$11.03
Median (50th)	$36,050	$17.33
75th percentile	$53,950	$25.94
90th percentile	$65,110	$31.31

Location quotient — how concentrated this career is in North Carolina relative to the national average — is 1.51, suggesting that airfield operations specialists are more concentrated here than the national average.

National Wage Comparison

Nationally, airfield operations specialists earn a median of $54,884 per year ($26.39/hour), lower than the North Carolina median.

Employment Outlook

National employment for 1,118,207 airfield operations specialists nationwide. In North Carolina alone, approximately 800 people work in this role. That’s higher than the typical state, which employs around 160 airfield operations specialists.

Top North Carolina Metros for Airfield Operations Specialists

These are the North Carolina metros with the most airfield operations specialists in North Carolina.

Metro Area	Number Employed	Annual Median Salary
Greensboro-High Point, NC	40	$38,960

Top States for Airfield Operations Specialists Employment

The table below shows the states where the most airfield operations specialists work.

State	Number Employed
Florida	3,670
Texas	1,550
New York	1,430
California	1,150
North Carolina	800
Puerto Rico	590
Pennsylvania	550
New Jersey	480
Georgia	470
Michigan	430
Tennessee	380
Indiana	370
Virginia	350
Utah	290
Ohio	240
Alaska	160
Washington	160
South Carolina	160
South Dakota	160
Arizona	150

Highest-Paying States for Airfield Operations Specialists

These states pay the most for airfield operations specialists.

State	Annual Median Salary
Washington	$82,540
Arizona	$80,260
Alabama	$78,270
Texas	$77,460
Oregon	$75,710
Oklahoma	$74,290
Colorado	$72,720
Alaska	$66,250
Maryland	$64,480
Florida	$62,600

Skills

Key airfield operations specialists skills, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Knowledge Areas

Important knowledge areas for this occupation, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Abilities

Key abilities for airfield operations specialists, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Daily Tasks

Airfield Operations Specialists typically:

• 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.
• Plan and coordinate airfield construction.
• Monitor the arrival, parking, refueling, loading, and departure of all aircraft.
• Train operations staff.
• Coordinate with agencies, such as air traffic control, civil engineers, or command posts, to ensure support of airfield management activities.

Work Activities

• Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials
• Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment
• Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards
• Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
• Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
• Documenting/Recording Information
• Getting Information
• Making Decisions and Solving Problems
• Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge
• Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings
• Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work
• Judging the Qualities of Objects, Services, or People

Tools & Technology

Technologies frequently used: Hot technologies: Adobe Photoshop, Extensible markup language XML In-demand technologies: Microsoft Excel

What Major Will Prepare You For This Career?

Several college majors map to this occupation:

• Air Transportation

Related Careers

Careers similar to airfield operations specialists include:

• Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers
• First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers
• First-Line Supervisors of Security Workers
• Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance
• Aircraft Cargo Handling Supervisors
• First-Line Supervisors of Helpers, Laborers, and Material Movers, Hand

Also Known As

Airfield Operations Specialist, Airfield Services Officer, Airline Agent, Airline Dispatcher, Airport Agent, Airport Operations Agent, Airport Operations Coordinator, Airport Operations Crew Member, Airport Operations Officer, Airport Operations Specialist, Airport Ramp Agent, Airport Security Officer, Airport Services Supervisor, Airport Supervisor, Aviation Operations Specialist.

References

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics — https://www.bls.gov/oes/
• O*NET Online — https://www.onetonline.org/
• BLS Employment Projections — https://www.bls.gov/emp/
• O*NET-SOC code: 53-2022.00