Flight director vs traffic manager

The differences between flight directors and traffic managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a flight director and a traffic manager. Additionally, a flight director has an average salary of $62,388, which is higher than the $61,734 average annual salary of a traffic manager.

The top three skills for a flight director include flight operations, in-flight and FAA. The most important skills for a traffic manager are project management, traffic management, and account executives.

Flight director vs traffic manager overview

	Flight Director	Traffic Manager
Yearly salary	$62,388	$61,734
Hourly rate	$29.99	$29.68
Growth rate	6%	-3%
Number of jobs	6,012	14,997
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 57%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	4	4

Flight director vs traffic manager salary

Flight directors and traffic managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Flight Director	Traffic Manager
Average salary	$62,388	$61,734
Salary range	Between $33,000 And $117,000	Between $37,000 And $102,000
Highest paying City	-	San Carlos, CA
Highest paying state	-	Virginia
Best paying company	-	AbbVie
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between flight director and traffic manager education

There are a few differences between a flight director and a traffic manager in terms of educational background:

	Flight Director	Traffic Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 57%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	Stanford University

Flight director vs traffic manager demographics

Here are the differences between flight directors' and traffic managers' demographics:

	Flight Director	Traffic Manager
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 71.8% Female, 28.2%	Male, 47.9% Female, 52.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 18.7% Asian, 6.1% White, 59.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 11.2% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 18.6% Asian, 6.1% White, 59.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	5%	5%

Differences between flight director and traffic manager duties and responsibilities

Flight director example responsibilities.

Manage intermediate-level maintenance on fighter aircraft release and gun systems.
Assist in assigning monthly days off calendar for pilots which comply with FAA standard regulations for pilots.
Demonstrate a thorough knowledge of missile security operations, disaster control procedures and initiate emergency security actions to counter enemy acts.
Monitor emergency management program and coordinate with departmental personnel to ensure compliance in agreement with program requirements.

Traffic manager example responsibilities.

Manage and schedule all FM commercials for national affiliates.
Manage and schedule all FM commercials per customers' contract drive times.
Manage all inbound material which include part shortages, EC changes, QC inspection parts and sequence material.
Train and supervise coordinators and junior AE s. create job number tracking system for print/broadcast events.
Provide oversight to all computer functions relative to the importation of vessels and the release and shipment of vehicles.
Perform continuous analysis of TMS, operation and business process for continuous improvement.

Flight director vs traffic manager skills

Common flight director skills

Flight Operations, 24%
In-Flight, 18%
FAA, 14%
Raid, 12%
Safety Inspections, 12%
NASA, 7%

Common traffic manager skills

Project Management, 10%
Traffic Management, 6%
Account Executives, 5%
FAA, 4%
PowerPoint, 4%
Traffic Logs, 4%