# Airfield Operations Specialists

> Ensure the safe takeoff and landing of commercial and military aircraft. Duties include coordination between air-traffic control and maintenance personnel, dispatching, using airfield landing and navigational aids, implementing airfield safety procedures, monitoring and maintaining flight records, and applying knowledge of weather information.

- **SOC code:** 53-2022.00
- **Canonical URL:** https://singulariki.com/roles/role-53-2022-00
- **Also known as:** Airport Operations Agent, Airport Operations Coordinator, Airport Operations Officer, Airport Operations Specialist, Airfield Operations Specialist, Flight Follower, Operations Agent, Operations Coordinator
- **Frame:** "AI exposure" means task overlap (how codifiable the work is), not jobs lost or a forecast. Every figure below is traced to a named public dataset.

## What this work is

**Core tasks** (O*NET):
- Inspect airfield conditions to ensure compliance with federal regulatory requirements.
- Implement airfield safety procedures to ensure a safe operating environment for personnel and aircraft operation.
- Conduct inspections of the airport property and perimeter to maintain controlled access to airfields.
- Assist in responding to aircraft and medical emergencies.
- Initiate or conduct airport-wide coordination of snow removal on runways and taxiways.
- Manage wildlife on and around airport grounds.
- Coordinate communications between air traffic control and maintenance personnel.
- Coordinate with agencies to meet aircrew requirements for billeting, messing, refueling, ground transportation, and transient aircraft maintenance.
- Perform and supervise airfield management activities, including mobile airfield management functions.
- Plan and coordinate airfield construction.
- Monitor the arrival, parking, refueling, loading, and departure of all aircraft.
- Use airfield landing and navigational aids and digital data terminal communications equipment to perform duties.

**Emerging tasks** (O*NET):
- Inspect airfield conditions to ensure safety and compliance with federal regulatory requirements.
- Issue notices to advise flight crews of airfield status.
- Monitor and manage the operation of drones within the airport airspace to ensure safe aircraft operations.
- Train operations staff on topics such as driving on airfields and security identification display area (SIDA) procedures.

## Skills, tools, capabilities

**Knowledge, skills & abilities** (O*NET, highest importance first):
- Public Safety and Security _(knowledge)_
- Transportation _(knowledge)_
- English Language _(knowledge)_
- Problem Sensitivity _(ability)_
- Deductive Reasoning _(ability)_
- Customer and Personal Service _(knowledge)_
- Active Listening _(essential_skill)_
- Monitoring _(essential_skill)_
- Oral Comprehension _(ability)_
- Written Comprehension _(ability)_
- Oral Expression _(ability)_
- Reading Comprehension _(essential_skill)_

**Skills in demand:**
- English Language _(Common Skill)_
- Deductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Active Listening _(Common Skill)_
- Reading Comprehension _(Common Skill)_
- Inductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Critical Thinking _(Common Skill)_
- Telecommunications _(Specialized Skill)_
- Information Ordering _(Specialized Skill)_
- Microsoft Excel _(Common Skill)_
- Writing _(Common Skill)_
- Complex Problem Solving _(Common Skill)_
- Speech Recognition _(Specialized Skill)_

**Tools & technology:**
- Microsoft Excel _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft Office software _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Adobe Photoshop _(hot technology)_
- Extensible markup language XML _(hot technology)_
- Intuit QuickBooks _(hot technology)_
- Linux _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Access _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Outlook _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft PowerPoint _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft SharePoint _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Windows _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Word _(hot technology)_

## AI exposure & outlook

- **AI task-overlap index:** 58th percentile (Moderate) across all occupations — composite of current-era exposure studies (ai-exposure-index-v1).
- **Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.):** 59th percentile (Moderate) — source: felten_aioe.
- **LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou):** 52nd percentile (Moderate) — source: eloundou_gamma.
- **AI assistant applicability (Microsoft):** 65th percentile (Moderate) — source: microsoft_applicability.
- **Frey–Osborne (2013, historical computerization estimate):** 58th percentile — kept separate from current-era studies.
- **Remote-capable (Dingel–Neiman):** no — task structure, not who actually works remote.
- **Projected employment (BLS 2024–34):** 4.2% growth (About average); 1.6k annual openings; 16.9k → 17.6k jobs.
- **Pay & employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):** median $56,750; 16,640 employed.

## How people actually use AI here

Anthropic Economic Index — measured AI conversations mapped to this occupation's tasks:

- **Automation vs augmentation:** 52% automation, 28% augmentation (usage-weighted).
- **Autonomy median:** 3.0 (higher = AI acts more independently).
- **Dominant collaboration mode:** directive.

**Tasks most handed to AI here:**
- Provide aircrews with information and services needed for airfield management and flight planning. _(1.4% of measured AI use; directive)_
- Procure, produce, and provide information on the safe operation of aircraft, such as flight planning publications, operations publications, charts and maps, and weather information. _(0.6% of measured AI use; learning)_

**Example prompts (honest phrasings of the tasks above — starting points, not endorsed instructions):**
- Help me provide aircrews with information and services needed for airfield management and flight planning.
- Help me procure, produce, and provide information on the safe operation of aircraft, such as flight planning publications, operations publications, charts and maps, and weather information.

## Sources

- **O*NET** (30.3) — U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)** (May 2024) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS Employment Projections** (2024–2034) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **Anthropic Economic Index** (v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27)) — Anthropic. https://www.anthropic.com/economic-index
- **Microsoft “Working with AI”** (working-with-ai) — Microsoft Research. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/
- **“GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.)** (arXiv 2303.10130) — OpenAI / academic. https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130
- **AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE)** (Felten, Raj & Seamans) — academic. https://github.com/AIOE-Data/AIOE
- **Frey & Osborne (2013)** (frey-osborne-automation) — academic. https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/publications/the-future-of-employment/
- **Dingel & Neiman (2020)** (dingel-neiman-workathome) — academic. https://github.com/jdingel/DingelNeiman-workathome

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_Generated from Singulariki's joined dataset; data snapshot 2026-06-02T21:00:32.945303+00:00. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-53-2022-00_