Also called: Aircraft Seat Engineer, Galley & Lavatory Engineer
Designs airplane seats, kitchens, bathrooms and overhead bins that are light, comfortable and survive a crash.
You design a business-class seat that turns into a bed, shaving every ounce. Then you watch it ride a crash-test sled that slams it at 16 times gravity with a dummy strapped in. Back at your desk you fix the bracket that bent, and check the fabric passed its burn test.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in mechanical or aerospace engineering.
Ways in: 4-year college. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Industrial Design.
Growing about average. Airlines refresh cabins often to compete.
Medium risk for 10 years. Generative design makes parts lighter faster, but crash testing and certification stay human-led.
Classes: Physics, AP Calculus, CAD or engineering class, Art or design.
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.