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The differences between airport managers and traffic operators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an airport manager and a traffic operator. Additionally, an airport manager has an average salary of $42,405, which is higher than the $36,610 average annual salary of a traffic operator.
The top three skills for an airport manager include customer complaints, business demands and human resources. The most important skills for a traffic operator are patrol, traffic management, and CCTV.
| Airport Manager | Traffic Operator | |
| Yearly salary | $42,405 | $36,610 |
| Hourly rate | $20.39 | $17.60 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 5,664 | 31,592 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
An airport manager oversees all of an airport's activities. They are responsible for managing flights, communicating with all pilots on takeoff and landing, coordinating airport employees, and ensuring passengers' comfort. They resolve organizational issues and ensure that aviation safety policies are followed. Airports function as the door to a country, so they should be presentable, hospitable, and comfortable.
A Traffic Operator coordinates all logistic shipments and associated operations. You will be required to oversee all payments and credit negotiation demands within traffic management. For all that you will do, you'll be required to listen to emergency radios for incident alerts as well as maintain operating standards and emergency procedures. As a Traffic Operator, you will be responsible for carrying out rig movements while drilling is going on, depending on the particular industry. You'll do some other tasks like operating heavy machinery like the bobcat equipment and also perform demolition work.
Airport managers and traffic operators have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Airport Manager | Traffic Operator | |
| Average salary | $42,405 | $36,610 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $62,000 | Between $24,000 And $53,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Topeka, KS |
| Highest paying state | - | Washington |
| Best paying company | - | Trafigura |
| Best paying industry | - | Finance |
There are a few differences between an airport manager and a traffic operator in terms of educational background:
| Airport Manager | Traffic Operator | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | SUNY Farmingdale | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between airport managers' and traffic operators' demographics:
| Airport Manager | Traffic Operator | |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 75.1% Female, 24.9% | Male, 60.2% Female, 39.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 18.7% Asian, 6.1% White, 59.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 11.4% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 18.8% Asian, 6.2% White, 58.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |