Airport Management Degrees

What is Airport Management?

There are 4,000-6,000 planes in the air over the U.S. at any given time, and more globally. The world’s air travel system is wildly complex, and the number of people needed to keep it running smoothly is huge. Airport managers are one part of the complex ecosystem of global aviation.

The airport is the portal into the aviation system for travelers, and managing its operations so that large volumes of customers can move through it quickly while keeping everyone safe and maintaining hundreds or thousands of flights takes serious work. With a degree in aviation management, you can participate in the many levels of organization that it takes to keep an airport running smoothly in spite of its massive complexity.

Degrees Related to Aviation Management

An array of degrees can lead to jobs in aviation management. As usual, the longer, more advanced degrees will likely lead to higher positions, but it may be possible to work your way up from an entry-level position with only a basic degree.

• Associates in Applied Science – Airport Management: This degree will get you in the door for a management or customer service position with an airline. Increasingly, airlines want their employees to have a bachelor’s degree or at least some college, but check-in agents and other entry-level positions can still get in based on previous customer relations experience.
• Bachelor of Business Administration- Airport Management: This degree incorporates a battery of pure business classes as well as specific aviation management classes. BBA programs usually comprise 120 credit hours, about half of which are specific to aviation, and half of which are general education or business basics. This degree will prepare you for an entry-level aviation management job with plenty of room to move up the corporate ladder and possibly become the CEO of an airport.
• Bachelor of Science in Aviation Management: This degree will prepare you to work in management positions in either the commercial air travel industry or in cargo and freight transport.
• Master of Science in Aviation Management: With this credential, you should be able to score a well-paid job at a reputable airline or freight company, and move up from there. A Master of Science in Aviation Management will prepare you for the business side of commercial aviation on a larger scale.

What Do Airport Managers Actually Do?

The day-to-day work of an airport manager may vary widely depending on the setting they work in. There are 19 major airlines in the U.S. and several dozen smaller players that serve different markets. If you work out of a major hub that serves both local and international destinations, your tasks will differ greatly from those of an aviation manager at a tiny rural airport that connects a small community to the nearest urban centers.

An airport manager does not work for a specific airline, but rather manages the relationship of an airport with all of the airlines and retailers that operate at that location. An airport manager may negotiate leases or other agreements with airlines, plan the overall budget of the airport, and make long term strategic decisions or recommendations for the health of the airport as a profitable business. Since airport managers are typically focused on the long view, they need a staff of clerks, middle managers, marketing personnel and other subordinates to handle day-to-day operations and supervision duties.

Your path in aviation management may also be influenced by your past experience. If you started out to become a pilot, or even have a pilot’s license already, you might work in a managerial role with pilots, but if your focus was more business oriented or customer service oriented, you could have a role managing the ground workers at the airport. In any of these positions, there is likely room to move up the organizational chart and take on more responsibility the longer you work there.

Other Jobs in Aviation

If you want to be involved in aviation, but you don’t think a high-pressure management job will work for you, think about getting into one of the many other careers in the aviation industry.

• Pilot: A perennial dream job, piloting planes has an air of panache and romance about it that is hard to beat. Becoming a pilot takes serious work though, and getting to fly a commercial jet liner requires thousands of hours in the cockpits of smaller puddle-jumpers. In the age of automation, much of plane flying has been reduced to monitoring instruments, but the excitement is still there for many aspiring pilots. Military flight training is a great way to get started as a pilot, and then you just have to keep learning to fly bigger planes and putting in hours behind the wheel to work your way up to the big birds. Commercial pilots are usually limited to 1,000 hours of flight time per year, and they make a median salary of $111,680. A huge benefit is that pilots fly free, even when they aren’t in the cockpit.
• Air Traffic Controller: This job requires very specific training that doesn’t come with an aviation management degree, and applicants without prior experience must be under 30 years old. The position demands intense focus over many hours, as it is the air traffic controller’s job to ensure safe and orderly landings for the many planes coming in at a given time. Air traffic controllers typically work a regular 40 hour week with some nights and weekend shifts , and are well compensated with a median income of $111,870.
• Flight Attendant: If you like interacting with people, have a knack for customer service, and speak or want to learn multiple languages, being a flight attendant may appeal to you. Flight attendants assist travelers with their baggage, ensure that passengers know all emergency procedures and safety precautions, serve food and beverages and generally smooth the process of boarding and disembarking from the plane. This job comes with the perk of cheap or free air travel for the flight attendant and their family, which can be worth thousands of dollars if you use it enough. As of 2006 flight attendants had a median income around $53,000.
• Mechanic/Service Technician: Airplane mechanics are responsible for keeping aircraft in working order and preventing the disasters that could result from worn out engines, hydraulic systems, pressurization equipment, navigational instruments, and general nuts and bolts on a plane. Service technicians usually specialize in a particular type of machinery, such as avionics, or the parts of a plane that rely on electronics.

Other Aspects of Careers in Aviation

The global aviation network never shuts down, and the schedules of pilots, flight attendants, air traffic controllers, and aviation managers reflect the constant churn of the industry. Many of these jobs will require you to be on-call 24/7 or to work unusual schedules and cope with jet lag and other travel related inconveniences. This can put a strain on your family and other relationships, but the increased pay and free travel benefits may compensate for that.

Many schools offer training for various careers in aviation, and if airport management is your dream job, then it can’t hurt to explore your options. Look below for some of the top schools with aviation management programs in the U.S.