Also called: Aerospace Coatings Technician
Strips, preps, and paints airplanes, including airline logos and special coatings.
You suit up with a respirator, mask off windows, and spray a smooth coat on a 150-foot airliner in a giant paint hangar. Detailed artwork can take weeks.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
High school diploma, about 0 years after high school. High school diploma plus on-the-job training.
Ways in: On-the-job training, Certification. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Majors to look at: Collision Repair & Refinishing (trade school).
Growing about average (about 2% over 10 years).
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. Robotic painting cells are coming for big airliner parts; masking, prep and custom liveries stay hands-on.
Age 18+. One way to start: Apply to aircraft paint shops and MROs as a prep helper; they train you and fit-test respirators
Classes: Art or painting, Auto body CTE, Chemistry, Shop class.
Official data: O*NET occupation 51-9124.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.