Aircraft Operation
Federal headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison for the Aircraft Operation occupation series (code 2181), drawn directly from the OPM FedScope dataset (June 2026).
The verdict
Aircraft Operation is a smaller, specialized federal occupation: 2,432 employees (0.1% of the federal civilian workforce) in the Transportation Group family. At an average salary of $149,284 it pays well above the federal average, and headcount edged down from the prior period.
- Headcount change
- -0.7%
- Pay change
- -0.1%
- Avg tenure
- 15.2 yrs
- Rank in family
- #4 of 20
FedScope read on Aircraft Operation (dense series)
Headcount moved down versus the prior period, a modest but trackable signal for anyone considering this specialized federal career path. Pay moved down between the two reporting periods, a small shift, within the range of normal year-to-year rounding rather than a broad pay-table change. On length of service, this series shows a long average tenure, typical of career federal roles where employees stay through much of a full career before retirement.
The Transportation Group family (code 21) groups Aircraft Operation together with 19 other related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Aircraft Operation postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Transportation Group family. The Transportation Group family totals 42,428 employees, and Aircraft Operation accounts for 5.7% of them. Its average salary ranks in the top half (73rd percentile) of pay among Transportation Group occupations.
Salary context · rich-pay series
How Aircraft Operation pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$149,284
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
+27.2%
Where Aircraft Operation ranks on rich federal pay
Aircraft Operation earns more on average than 88% of federal occupation series (474 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Aircraft Operation sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Aircraft Operation.
Related Occupations in Transportation Group
10 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air Traffic Control | 21,627 | $153,037 | 13.7 yrs |
| Transportation Specialist | 8,313 | $123,621 | 16.6 yrs |
| Transportation Clerk and Assistant | 2,525 | $55,598 | 11.3 yrs |
| Transportation Operations | 1,900 | $105,349 | 16.3 yrs |
| Traffic Management | 1,400 | $119,205 | 15.8 yrs |
| Dispatching | 1,378 | $58,047 | 10.9 yrs |
| Technical Systems Program Manager | 672 | $191,580 | 24.5 yrs |
| Railroad Safety | 497 | $119,966 | 14.1 yrs |
| Motor Carrier Safety | 467 | $94,322 | 12 yrs |
| Aircrew Technician | 374 | n/a | 13.5 yrs |
Nationwide peers near this dense headcount
Two peer sets for Aircraft Operation outside the Transportation Group family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar dense headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (2,432 here).
Similar rich average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($149,284 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Aircraft Operation pay in context with the pay-rank chart above, then compare it with another occupation.
- Turn an average salary into a grade: the GS pay grade tables show how grades and steps map to pay.
- Browse the Transportation Group family occupations in the table above, or search current Aircraft Operation postings on USAJOBS.
OPM FedScope and Federal Workforce Data figures are federal civilian headcounts, average salaries, and length-of-service statistics - not job-quality scores, hiring advice, or a live vacancy listing. A larger or higher-paid agency is not a better employer.