An aircraft cleaner doesn't just walk around the cockpit and aircraft aisles with a vacuum in one hand and a duster in the other. If you're interested in aircraft, you'll quickly find that an aircraft cleaner is one of the most appreciated positions on the runway.
Aircraft cleaners keep the aircraft up to standard by maintaining the interior and exterior according to protocol. While they are responsible for keeping the cabin and cockpit cleaned and disinfected, they take care of washing the exterior, stocking the plane's materials, and even help the runway crew with baggage, utilities, and more. The aircraft cleaning team needs to have effective and clear communication in order to prepare the aircraft in a timely manner, keeping their job at a fast and effective pace.
Aircraft cleaners may be required to have a bachelor's degree or certification in some field of aircraft maintenance, but some positions may take applicants with a high school diploma/GED. Their primary focus will be on experience in a similar field. This is typically an hourly position earning, on average, $13 per hour.
What is an Aircraft Cleaner?
What Does an Aircraft Cleaner Do
There are certain skills that many aircraft cleaners have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed customer-service skills, hand-eye coordination and physical strength.
How To Become an Aircraft Cleaner
If you're interested in becoming an aircraft cleaner, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 8.1% of aircraft cleaners have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 1.8% of aircraft cleaners have master's degrees. Even though some aircraft cleaners have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Average Salary for an Aircraft Cleaner
What Am I Worth?
Roles and Types of Aircraft Cleaner
The role of an aircraft cleaner includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general aircraft cleaner responsibilities:
- Exterior cleaning of cargo aircraft. Prefer heavy equipment experience (forklift, etc. ), not afraid of heights,
- Exterior cleaning of cargo aircraft. Prefer heavy equipment experience (forklift, pressure washer, etc. ), not afraid of heights,
- Exterior cleaning of cargo aircraft. Prefer heavy equipment experience (forklift, etc), not afraid of heights,
There are several types of aircraft cleaner, including:
Cleaner
Role:
A lot of your job is done after hours usually, as that's when everyone has gone home and will be out of your way. Some of the work may be unpleasant since there will be areas that are more dirty than others.
Luckily, the job isn't too demanding education wise, so you should be able to pick it up after a bit of on-the-job training. Other than training, you won't need any formal education. Another plus for this position is that you can essentially work anywhere. Everyone needs an exceptional cleaner.
- Average Salary: $28,075
- Degree: High School Diploma
Detailer
Role:
You'll notice that becoming a detailer will mean you'll become pretty nit-picky about things. After all, if you want to do your job right it's all in the details. In general, you'll probably only need a high school diploma. As long as you're good about getting into the nitty gritty of specific details, we're sure you'll do just fine.
- Average Salary: $29,506
- Degree: High School Diploma
Car Detailer
Role:
This career path does not require any special education or training. With a high school diploma or higher education, you can get this job. However, you need a valid driver's license. The employer may provide on-the-job training. However, you must be able to use cleaning equipment and tools and possess communication, attention to detail, customer service, and sales skills. Annually, you will earn $31,472 on average. This will range from $22,000 to $45,000.
- Average Salary: $29,125
- Degree: High School Diploma
States With The Most Aircraft Cleaner Jobs
Mouse over a state to see the number of active aircraft cleaner jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where aircraft cleaners earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Number Of Aircraft Cleaner Jobs By State
| Rank | State | Number of Jobs | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 1,184 | $39,555 |
| 2 | Florida | 1,052 | $26,545 |
| 3 | Texas | 939 | $24,399 |
| 4 | Ohio | 911 | $29,390 |
| 5 | Pennsylvania | 581 | $30,213 |
| 6 | New York | 572 | $36,258 |
| 7 | Illinois | 571 | $29,651 |
| 8 | Michigan | 485 | $29,234 |
| 9 | Georgia | 427 | $25,161 |
| 10 | Wisconsin | 394 | $30,172 |
| 11 | New Jersey | 390 | $32,793 |
| 12 | North Carolina | 389 | $24,819 |
| 13 | Virginia | 385 | $27,639 |
| 14 | Indiana | 315 | $29,929 |
| 15 | Missouri | 314 | $27,064 |
| 16 | Arizona | 303 | $31,508 |
| 17 | Washington | 295 | $37,485 |
| 18 | Maryland | 290 | $29,687 |
| 19 | Massachusetts | 275 | $36,379 |
| 20 | Minnesota | 246 | $31,945 |
| 21 | Tennessee | 243 | $26,659 |
| 22 | Kentucky | 218 | $26,794 |
| 23 | Alabama | 205 | $25,069 |
| 24 | Colorado | 202 | $32,616 |
| 25 | South Carolina | 193 | $25,853 |
| 26 | Iowa | 180 | $28,536 |
| 27 | Louisiana | 171 | $25,241 |
| 28 | Oregon | 165 | $36,219 |
| 29 | Oklahoma | 141 | $27,140 |
| 30 | Utah | 136 | $30,680 |
| 31 | Kansas | 126 | $27,788 |
| 32 | Nevada | 123 | $28,796 |
| 33 | Connecticut | 112 | $34,619 |
| 34 | West Virginia | 112 | $26,888 |
| 35 | Arkansas | 95 | $26,591 |
| 36 | Mississippi | 93 | $24,112 |
| 37 | Nebraska | 89 | $28,730 |
| 38 | Idaho | 88 | $31,000 |
| 39 | New Mexico | 82 | $27,298 |
| 40 | Hawaii | 71 | $37,197 |
| 41 | New Hampshire | 58 | $35,908 |
| 42 | Maine | 54 | $35,185 |
| 43 | Delaware | 54 | $33,044 |
| 44 | Rhode Island | 52 | $33,480 |
| 45 | Alaska | 48 | $30,068 |
| 46 | Montana | 46 | $31,054 |
| 47 | South Dakota | 45 | $29,172 |
| 48 | North Dakota | 35 | $33,128 |
| 49 | Wyoming | 25 | $32,684 |
| 50 | Vermont | 17 | $33,275 |
Top Skills For an Aircraft Cleaner
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 16.9% of aircraft cleaners listed squeegees on their resume, but soft skills such as customer-service skills and hand-eye coordination are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Aircraft Cleaner Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Aircraft Cleaner templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Aircraft Cleaner resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Aircraft Cleaner Demographics
Aircraft Cleaner Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among aircraft cleaners, 47.9% of them are women, while 52.1% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among aircraft cleaners is White, which makes up 56.7% of all aircraft cleaners.
- The most common foreign language among aircraft cleaners is Spanish at 78.3%.
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See More on UdemyBest States For an Aircraft Cleaner
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as an aircraft cleaner. The best states for people in this position are California, Washington, Hawaii, and Massachusetts. Aircraft cleaners make the most in California with an average salary of $39,555. Whereas in Washington and Hawaii, they would average $37,485 and $37,197, respectively. While aircraft cleaners would only make an average of $36,379 in Massachusetts, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. New York
$36,258
Avg. Salary
2. Hawaii
$37,197
Avg. Salary
3. Washington
$37,485
Avg. Salary
How Do Aircraft Cleaner Rate Their Jobs?
Top Aircraft Cleaner Employers
Most Common Employers For Aircraft Cleaner
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | G2 Secure Staff | $34,740 | $16.70 | 121 |
| 2 | American Airlines | $34,139 | $16.41 | 38 |
| 3 | Menzies Aviation | $33,410 | $16.06 | 8 |
| 4 | Delta Corporate Svcs | $31,987 | $15.38 | 8 |
| 5 | Sun Country Industries, Inc. | $31,731 | $15.26 | 12 |
| 6 | Huntleigh USA | $31,494 | $15.14 | 10 |
| 7 | Envoy Air | $31,202 | $15.00 | 7 |
| 8 | Aramark | $31,178 | $14.99 | 11 |
| 9 | Prospect Airport Services | $29,603 | $14.23 | 63 |
| 10 | PrimeFlight Aviation Services | $29,579 | $14.22 | 158 |
Aircraft Cleaner Videos
