Best programs to become an airfield operations specialist
You do not need a college degree to become an airfield operations specialist. BLS lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education. The field of study that leads most directly to this job is Air Traffic Controller (IPEDS completions).
1 college program at 19 schools trains airfield operations specialists, graduating 232 people a year (IPEDS completions). The job pays a median of $56,850 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About 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.
Best programs to study to become an airfield operations specialist
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 49.0105 | 232 | 100.0% | 19 | $41,774 | $23,500 |
Top 19 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Florida Institute of Technology Melbourne, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder program | 35 | Air Traffic Controller | 64% | $33,585 | 58% |
| 2 | Tulsa Technology Center Tulsa, OK Public · 1 feeder program | 31 | Air Traffic Controller | 81% | — | — |
| 3 | Embry - Riddle Aeronautical University - Daytona Beach Daytona Beach, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder program | 27 | Air Traffic Controller | 67% | $38,899 | 65% |
| 4 | Mt San Antonio College Walnut, CA Public · 1 feeder program | 19 | Air Traffic Controller | 45% | — | — |
| 5 | University of North Dakota Grand Forks, ND Public · 1 feeder program | 18 | Air Traffic Controller | 60% | — | 77% |
| 6 | Middle Georgia State University Macon, GA Public · 1 feeder program | 16 | Air Traffic Controller | 25% | — | 100% |
| 7 | Community College of Beaver County Monaca, PA Public · 1 feeder program | 11 | Air Traffic Controller | 12% | — | — |
| 8 | Embry - Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott Prescott, AZ Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder program | 10 | Air Traffic Controller | 68% | $38,461 | 77% |
| 9 | Tulsa Community College Tulsa, OK Public · 1 feeder program | 10 | Air Traffic Controller | 28% | — | — |
| 10 | Green River College Auburn, WA Public · 1 feeder program | 9 | Air Traffic Controller | 39% | — | — |
| 11 | Aims Community College Greeley, CO Public · 1 feeder program | 8 | Air Traffic Controller | 40% | — | — |
| 12 | Lewis University Romeoville, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder program | 8 | Air Traffic Controller | 67% | $17,632 | 71% |
| 13 | Thomas Edison State University Trenton, NJ Public · 1 feeder program | 8 | Air Traffic Controller | — | — | — |
| 14 | University of Alaska Anchorage Anchorage, AK Public · 1 feeder program | 8 | Air Traffic Controller | 30% | — | — |
| 15 | Sacramento City College Sacramento, CA Public · 1 feeder program | 5 | Air Traffic Controller | 33% | — | — |
| 16 | Community College of Baltimore County Baltimore, MD Public · 1 feeder program | 4 | Air Traffic Controller | 19% | — | — |
| 17 | Sinclair Community College Dayton, OH Public · 1 feeder program | 3 | Air Traffic Controller | 41% | — | — |
| 18 | Lynn University Boca Raton, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder program | 1 | Air Traffic Controller | 52% | $38,343 | 73% |
| 19 | Schenectady County Community College Schenectady, NY Public · 1 feeder program | 1 | Air Traffic Controller | 32% | — | — |
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
What airfield operations specialists earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Floridamoderate | $57,650 | 2,320 | 2.39× | 3 | 63 |
| Oklahomalimited | $49,200 | 80 | 0.49× | 2 | 41 |
| Californialimited | $62,600 | 1,660 | 0.93× | 2 | 24 |
| North Dakotalimited | $37,550 | 80 | 2.01× | 1 | 18 |
| Georgialimited | $66,790 | 340 | 0.71× | 1 | 16 |
| Pennsylvanialimited | $55,660 | 340 | 0.57× | 1 | 11 |
| Arizonalimited | $77,570 | 160 | 0.52× | 1 | 10 |
| Washingtonlimited | $84,050 | 150 | 0.42× | 1 | 9 |
| Alaskalimited | $71,510 | 160 | 5.10× | 1 | 8 |
| Coloradolimited | $77,500 | 70 | 0.25× | 1 | 8 |
| New Jerseylimited | $42,480 | — | — | 1 | 8 |
| Ohiolimited | $57,140 | 360 | 0.67× | 1 | 3 |
| New Yorklimited | $42,000 | 2,190 | 2.32× | 1 | 1 |
Skills and knowledge
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- 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.
Skills
- Monitoring4.0
- Active Listening4.0
- Critical Thinking3.8
- Speaking3.8
- Reading Comprehension3.8
- Writing3.4
- Active Learning3.3
- Learning Strategies3.0
Knowledge areas
- Public Safety and Security4.5
- Transportation4.3
- English Language4.2
- Customer and Personal Service4.0
- Education and Training3.7
- Telecommunications3.6
Abilities
- Deductive Reasoning4.1
- Problem Sensitivity4.1
- Oral Expression4.0
- Oral Comprehension4.0
- Written Comprehension4.0
- Inductive Reasoning3.8
Core activities
- Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials4.7
- Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment4.7
- Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards4.6
- Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events4.4
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates4.4
- Documenting/Recording Information4.3
How to get in
How to become an airfield operations specialist
- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Long-term on-the-job training
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 1 majors mapped to Airfield Operations Specialists1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 49.0105Air Traffic Controller
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become an airfield operations specialist?+
You do not need a college degree to become an airfield operations specialist. BLS lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education. The field of study that leads most directly to this job is Air Traffic Controller (IPEDS completions).
Which college majors lead to becoming an airfield operations specialist?+
The field of study that leads most directly to this job is Air Traffic Controller (IPEDS completions). In all, the NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 program to this job, which graduates about 232 people a year.
How much do airfield operations specialists earn?+
The median is $56,850 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $35,870 at the 10th percentile to $102,120 at the 90th. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for airfield operations specialists growing?+
BLS projects a +4.2% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 1,600 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
19 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 1 program that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do airfield operations specialists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Airport Operations Agent, Airport Operations Officer, Airport Operations Specialist, Airport Operations Coordinator among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 53-2022.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024-25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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