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The differences between maintenance controllers and maintenance planners can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a maintenance controller and a maintenance planner. Additionally, a maintenance controller has an average salary of $72,133, which is higher than the $57,625 average annual salary of a maintenance planner.
The top three skills for a maintenance controller include maintenance control, FAA and general maintenance. The most important skills for a maintenance planner are CMMS, maintenance planning, and maintenance tasks.
| Maintenance Controller | Maintenance Planner | |
| Yearly salary | $72,133 | $57,625 |
| Hourly rate | $34.68 | $27.70 |
| Growth rate | 5% | -3% |
| Number of jobs | 70,069 | 71,145 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 37% | Bachelor's Degree, 47% |
| Average age | 49 | 49 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
To ensure that every passenger can have safe travel, a maintenance controller must check, monitor, and maintain an aircraft's good performance. They are responsible for ensuring that it has passed quality standards, safety requirements, and mechanics before they go in the air. Often reviews, schedules, logs, and coordinates to their supervisor to identify or resolve any unforeseen issue that may come along the way.
A maintenance planner is responsible for maintaining the efficiency and optimal performance of the operational tools, equipment, and machinery. Maintenance planners assist with the personnel's request for equipment repairs, requiring them to have excellent knowledge of the mechanical industry to identify inconsistencies and glitches and perform immediate troubleshooting. They schedule maintenance routine checks, upgrade component features, and replace malfunctioning parts as needed. A maintenance planner also supports the staff on the proper usage of machinery by creating procedural manuals and demonstrations.
Maintenance controllers and maintenance planners have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Maintenance Controller | Maintenance Planner | |
| Average salary | $72,133 | $57,625 |
| Salary range | Between $48,000 And $106,000 | Between $39,000 And $84,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Fremont, CA |
| Highest paying state | - | Alaska |
| Best paying company | - | CVR Energy |
| Best paying industry | - | Hospitality |
There are a few differences between a maintenance controller and a maintenance planner in terms of educational background:
| Maintenance Controller | Maintenance Planner | |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 37% | Bachelor's Degree, 47% |
| Most common major | Aviation | Business |
| Most common college | SUNY Farmingdale | SUNY College of Technology at Alfred |
Here are the differences between maintenance controllers' and maintenance planners' demographics:
| Maintenance Controller | Maintenance Planner | |
| Average age | 49 | 49 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 89.1% Female, 10.9% | Male, 85.6% Female, 14.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.4% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 15.9% Asian, 2.1% White, 67.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2% | Black or African American, 8.4% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 15.9% Asian, 2.1% White, 67.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 4% |