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

What is an airport operations supervisor 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 supervisor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $20.26 an hour? That's $42,139 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 SupervisorUS Average

Salary

3.3

Avg. Salary $42,139

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

10.0

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.93%

Asian 6.00%

Black or African American 12.22%

Hispanic or Latino 21.50%

Unknown 5.30%

White 54.06%

Gender

female 26.09%

male 73.91%

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

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.9

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

2.7

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an airport operations supervisor

Explore airport operations supervisor education requirements

Most common airport operations supervisor degrees

Bachelor's

61.5 %

Associate

21.3 %

High School Diploma

7.7 %

Start to develop specific airport operations supervisor skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	8.75%
Management System	7.97%
Develop Team	7.21%
Reservations	6.65%
Continuous Improvement	6.06%

Complete relevant airport operations supervisor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New airport operations supervisors 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 supervisor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real airport operations supervisor resumes.

Research airport operations supervisor duties and responsibilities

Construct domestic and international reservations, perform ticket transactions, facilitate passenger check-in and manage departure and arrival gates.
Maintain safety and security of the AOA and SIDA.
Compile station payroll and accountable stock use.
Provide payroll, inventory, and scheduling support.

Apply for airport operations supervisor jobs

Now it's time to start searching for an airport operations supervisor 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 supervisors rate their job?

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Airport operations supervisor reviews

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