Careers in an airport

Do you love the excitement and constant hustle and bustle of airports? Airports provide a wealth of diverse and interesting jobs.

Airport security has become a much-needed and increasingly detailed operation.

According to the Transportation Security Administration, there are several different kinds of security teams, all who work to improve the safety of airports around the country.

Federal air marshals work “to detect, deter and defeat hostile acts targeting U.S. air carriers, airports, passengers and crews.”

The TSA’s Federal Flight Deck Officer Program and the Crew Member Self-Defense Program work to train flight attendants to control threats to security on board planes. The National Explosives Detection Canine Team Program trains and works with “security puppies.” Some security agents fly on planes near the Washington, D.C., area in the Armed Security Officer Program.

Other security personnel screen baggage, patrol airport corridors and help passengers find their ways.

“You can never make a pilot jealous,” says Reny Cosman, vice president of admissions at the American School of Aviation. “According to the U.S. Department of Labor, it’s one of the 10 highest-paid jobs.”

Students at the American School of Aviation take 10 months of classroom training and flight instruction, then work another year as flight instructors themselves.

After taking licensing exams, they work as co-pilots and then as captains.

Students at the Northwest School of Aviation begin with “the career prep force,” where students become ground instructors and teach ground-school classes (“ground” means “in the classroom”). They can then become flight instructors and continue on to become airline captains.

People who work on the aircraft often get to experience the same high-paced excitement of working in an airport, as well as enjoy skilled, precise, hands-on work.

Those who are specifically “ramp service personnel” work on planes when they are at the gate to de-ice or refuel them.

“There are hundreds, if not thousands, of auxiliary positions within the airports. There are lots of the administrative type jobs in the airports, many that are college degree-required jobs and lots of business jobs, because the airport is a business. And there are lots of tradespeople who work at the airport, like electricians, carpenters, firefighters and police. It’s like a mini city in itself,” says Dave Wheeler, director of the Northwest School of Aviation.

“As in other career fields, the best pilots and airport employees are ethical, moral people who are genuinely interested in the job. They’ll take a task, and not just do the bare bones, but take it from start to finish and have enthusiasm for it,” Wheeler says.