Career Explorer Transport and logistics
Grows with AI
Airfield operations specialists
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.
More resilient than most: more resilient than 70% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is high (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it high), and US jobs are projected to change by +7.8% by 2035, faster than average. The work leans on ethical judgement and emotional intelligence.
AI can help with many of the tasks, and demand is still growing. Being fluent with AI is the edge here.
- Median pay (2025)
- $56,850
- Job growth to 2035
- +7.8%
- Openings a year
- 1,500
- People doing it (2025)
- 15,300
- Usual route in
- High school diploma, then long on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Communicate with others about operational plans or activities
- Plan work activities
- Maintain facilities or equipment
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Inspect facilities or equipment
- Manage control systems or activities
- Intervene in crisis situations or emergencies
What the work looks like
- 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.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- More of these jobs, as airfield operations grow due to expanding aviation activity, resulting in an increased need for airfield operations specialists.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Flight attendantsGrows with AI, Index 84, +8.8%
- Aircraft cargo handling supervisorsHuman edge, growing, Index 97, +9.2%
- Captains, mates, and pilots of water vesselsHuman edge, growing, Index 86, +4.0%
- Forest fire inspectors and prevention specialistsHuman edge, growing, Index 99, +13.1%
Also known as: Airport Operations Agent, Airport Operations Coordinator, Airport Operations Officer, Airport Operations Specialist, Airfield Operations Specialist, Flight Follower, Operations Agent, Operations Coordinator.
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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.