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The differences between aircraft engineers and service engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become an aircraft engineer, becoming a service engineer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a service engineer has an average salary of $87,151, which is higher than the $72,867 average annual salary of an aircraft engineer.
The top three skills for an aircraft engineer include DOD, aircraft systems and CAD. The most important skills for a service engineer are customer service, infrastructure, and cloud.
| Aircraft Engineer | Service Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $72,867 | $87,151 |
| Hourly rate | $35.03 | $41.90 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 5,718 | 143,806 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 57% |
| Average age | 44 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 6 |
An aircraft engineer oversees the design and assembly of an aircraft. Broadly, they are responsible for developing aircraft designs, testing and fine-tuning them, and ensuring safe practices during the assembly process. Specifically, this involves providing design drafts, meeting with executives to get feedback, and working in an engineering team to improve designs. They must consider aerodynamic principles, air safety, passenger comfort, and customer. This position requires an advanced degree and strong experience in the aviation field.
A service engineer is responsible for assisting the customers' concerns regarding the products and services offered by the company through technical support solutions. Service engineers conduct preventive maintenance, upgrade systems to boost optimal performance, create product manuals, record the occurring issues, perform adjustments on the systems infrastructure, identify business opportunities to generate more revenues, and analyze current market trends to meet client demands. A service engineer must have excellent communication skills, including extensive knowledge of the technology industry and network systems.
Aircraft engineers and service engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Aircraft Engineer | Service Engineer | |
| Average salary | $72,867 | $87,151 |
| Salary range | Between $53,000 And $99,000 | Between $62,000 And $122,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Joby Aviation | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Transportation | Technology |
There are a few differences between an aircraft engineer and a service engineer in terms of educational background:
| Aircraft Engineer | Service Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 57% |
| Most common major | Aerospace Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between aircraft engineers' and service engineers' demographics:
| Aircraft Engineer | Service Engineer | |
| Average age | 44 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 91.1% Female, 8.9% | Male, 91.8% Female, 8.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.2% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 11.4% Asian, 10.8% White, 68.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 3.3% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 8.9% Asian, 13.2% White, 69.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 5% |