How To Become An Airport Operations Officer: What It Is and Career Path

What is an airport operations officer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an airport operations officer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $20.56 an hour? That's $42,773 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 189,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreAirport Operations OfficerUS Average

Salary

3.3

Avg. Salary $42,773

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.6

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.47%

Asian 6.41%

Black or African American 6.24%

Hispanic or Latino 15.37%

Unknown 4.34%

White 67.16%

Gender

female 24.00%

male 76.00%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress level

9.6

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.2

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.6

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an airport operations officer

Explore airport operations officer education requirements

Most common airport operations officer degrees

Bachelor's

64.1 %

Associate

15.4 %

High School Diploma

10.3 %

Start to develop specific airport operations officer skills

Skills	Percentages
Emergency Situations	15.41%
Security Issues	11.62%
TSA	10.29%
Circuit Television	7.78%
CCTV	7.47%

Complete relevant airport operations officer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New airport operations officers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an airport operations officer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real airport operations officer resumes.

Research airport operations officer duties and responsibilities

Manage all contingency communications planning for response by USAF special operation forces to real-world operations.
Conduct OSHA safety audits, investigations of all incidents, and develop action plans to achieve/enhance compliance and sustainability.
Balance daily STAR/MAC ATM transactions and initiate transaction adjustments/corrections to customer accounts to accurately reflect balances.

Prepare your airport operations officer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your airport operations officer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an airport operations officer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable airport operations officer resume templates

Build a professional airport operations officer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your airport operations officer resume.

Apply for airport operations officer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for an airport operations officer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do airport operations officers rate their job?

5/5

Based on 1 ratings

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Airport operations officer reviews

5.0

A zippia user wrote a review on Feb 2020

Pros

The interaction with different agencies and people from around the world the chance to learn the ins and outs of an airport also learning the different call signs and lighting's having the authority and responsibility over millions of dollars in equipment and the responsibility of keeping the lives of families safe

Cons

Nothing

A zippia user wrote a review on Sep 2019