Airfield Operations Specialists

Also Called:

Airport Operations Agent,

Airport Operations Coordinator,

Airport Operations Officer,

Airport Operations Specialist

What they do: 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 they typically do on the job?

  • 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.

Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include data, detail, and regular routines.

Interests

Career interests describe the perspectives and interests of people who enjoy the type of work involved in this career.

Discover what your interests are by taking the Interest Profiler Quiz

Abilities

Whether you have received formal training or not, these types of abilities are helpful in this career.

Verbal

  • Communicate by speaking

  • Listen and understand what people say

Ideas and Logic

  • Notice when problems happen

  • Use rules to solve problems

Attention

  • Pay attention to something without being distracted

  • Do two or more things at the same time

Visual Understanding

  • Quickly compare groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things

Skills

People who want to pursue this career have skills in these areas.

Basic Skills

  • Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements

  • Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions

Problem Solving

  • Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it

People and Technology Systems

  • Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one

  • Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it

Does this sound like something you'd like to do?

1. Do some research

  • Identify how your interests, values, and strengths match this occupation
  • Talk to someone who works in this field or spend a day job shadowing
  • Use the colleges and training directory to explore programs related to this career

2. Plan your next move

  • Talk to your college and career counselor or school admissions staff
  • Visit Idaho Launch
  • Search for available Airfield Operations Specialists jobs on Idaho Works

Data for NSI career cards comes from the following: Idaho Department of Labor, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, O*NET, MyNextMove, and Career OneStop