Besides the obvious ones, what are some lesser known aviation jobs that actually pay well?

[-]

trying_to_adult_here@reddit

Can confirm. Pay is good and I’m home every night.

[-]

vivalicious16@reddit

Did you have to relocate a lot when getting a job? I’d love to become a dispatcher but I already own my home

[-]

QuietGarlic7788@reddit

Dispatchers seem to make a pretty decent amount of money! Good money in airport ops and miscellaneous FAA jobs too.

[-]

trying_to_adult_here@reddit

Regional dispatchers are not very well paid. Regional pay starts around $20-22/hour and doesn’t go up too much with seniority.

If you get hired at a major pay starts around $100,000 a year and top of scale is around $180,000 after 10-12 years. If you pick up additional qualifications (like ops coordinator, ATC coordinator, or international qualifications) pay goes up. There’s overtime available too, though this ebbs and flows.

Pay at the LCCs/ULCCs is somewhere in the middle. Someone on JetCareers maintains a Dispatcher Pay Spreadsheet that’s usually up to date.

[-]

EliteEthos@reddit

Have you heard of CFI?

It’s never really discussed or mentioned here…

/s

[-]

Ok-Selection4206@reddit

There is nothing CFI pay wise that is "pretty descent"

[-]

EliteEthos@reddit

Do you know what “/s” means?

[-]

Ok-Selection4206@reddit

My bad, never saw it. Stopped reading/looking around for subliminal messages after "mentioned"

[-]

CorporalCrash@reddit

ATC and FSS.

I also hear Air Attack Officer for firefighting ops can be a sweet gig

[-]

Texican84@reddit

Dispatchers and Ag Pilots. Getting a job in both might be more difficult than flying for a major haha.

[-]

PropToThePeople_FMY@reddit

Smuggling

[-]

SkinnyWheel1357@reddit

I have an acquaintance who was an air marshal. The pay was decent.

Of course, he had a background in LE before getting that job.

[-]

Icy_Huckleberry_8049@reddit

Every aviation company has executives and they usually make money, then there are hundreds of other jobs in the company that pay well, too.

[-]

N546RV@reddit

What are your boundaries for a role to be considered "in aviation?" Cause the way I see it there's a whole spectrum here. I'm a software engineer but I work for a major aerospace company. When I first started my flying knowledge was regularly useful for my role, these days that's a little more rare. But it's still aviation-adjacent enough for me to get plenty of fulfillment...as well as plenty of income to go fly for fun.

[-]

Aggressive_Staff_982@reddit

Are you interested in aviation/transportation policy? I got my PPL a while back but due to health issues I couldn't go further in my pilot career. I ended up working in government in an area that allows me to meet with government and industry professionals to discuss aviation topics and inform aviation policy. I've talked to a variety of aviation professionals, including those that work with their city airports, state DOTs, drones, cargo and passenger airlines, and NASA at one point. It's niche, but there's plenty of policy related jobs. At least in my workplace, there is a hesitancy for staff to take on aviation related projects because aviation has the stereotype of being technically complicated.

[-]

SomeCessnaDriver@reddit

Aircraft dispatcher

Air traffic controller, they're always looking for people

Ramp/gate/ticket agents, though I don't know know what your definition of "decent" pay is

Airport operations

etc

[-]

Please downvote this comment until it collapses.

Questions about this comment? Please see this wiki post before contacting the mods.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. If you have any questions, please contact the mods of this subreddit.