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Air Crew Members: Job Description

Perform in-flight duties to ensure the successful completion of combat, reconnaissance, transport, and search and rescue missions. Duties include operating aircraft communications and detection equipment, including establishing satellite linkages and jamming enemy communications capabilities; conducting preflight, in-flight, and postflight inspections of onboard equipment; operating and maintaining aircraft weapons and defensive systems; operating and maintaining aircraft in-flight refueling systems; executing aircraft safety and emergency procedures; computing and verifying passenger, cargo, fuel, and emergency and special equipment weight and balance data; and conducting cargo and personnel drops.

What Tasks Do Air Crew Members Take On?

Types of Air Crew Members Jobs

People in this occupation may also be known by titles such as:

• Acoustic Sensor Operator
• Aerial Gunner
• Airborne Battle Management Systems, Weapons Director
• Airborne Mine Countermeasures (AMCM) Aircrewman
• Airborne Mission Systems
• Airborne Missions Systems
• Airborne Operations
• Airborne Radio Operator/In-Flight Refueling Observer/Loadmaster

How Many Air Crew Members Are There?

The U.S. employs around 27,222 air crew members working in the United States today. Employment is projected to grow by +6.2% over the projection horizon.

Air Crew Members Pay

Statistic	Value
Annual median	$49,648
Hourly median	$23.87
10th percentile	$34,910
25th percentile	$42,279
75th percentile	$57,018
90th percentile	$64,387

Pay can vary substantially based on experience, location, and industry.

References

Data on this page comes from the following authoritative sources:

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) for employment and wage data by state and industry.
• BLS Employment Projections for total employment and growth forecasts.
• O*NET (Occupational Information Network) for skills, knowledge, tasks, work activities, work context, technology, and education-zone data.

SOC code: 55-3011.00 (Air Crew Members).