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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Aviation Inspectors?
Task-level automation exposure for Aviation Inspectors: 13 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
41%
weighted task index
13 of 13 tasks scored
Median Salary
$92,100 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Low
24,500 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
+2.2%
employment change
2,300 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 46 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$29,760 – $123,120
Highest medians
Alaska $123,120
Iowa $116,850
Oklahoma $111,070
Hawaii $108,270
Alabama $108,140
Lowest medians
Puerto Rico $29,760
Michigan $35,890
Illinois $47,990
New Jersey $49,250
Nevada $50,060
State figures come from the 53-6051 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.
What the score is made of
Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.
Automation potential 41%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 8%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 28%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 17%
Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.
Rewritten by O*NET 0%
Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.
Consequence of error 69/100
High
O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.
Constituent Task Mix
13 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.
High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 32%
4 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 19%
3 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 49%
6 tasks
How would you survive?
Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.
Simulate Upskilling →Emerging & rewritten tasks
Tasks O*NET added or rewrote for this occupation in its recent updates (05/2025 – 08/2026), with who proposed them. Additions are not in the scored task inventory — they are new work O*NET is still measuring, so they appear here and nowhere in the index. A Revision replaces a task that is scored, which is why only those move the "Rewritten by O*NET" share.
- New 05/2025 · AI/SME
Inspect uncrewed aircraft systems, such as drones, to ensure compliance with safety and operation regulations.
Constituent Tasks
#10728 · Core · 18% automatable
Inspect work of aircraft mechanics performing maintenance, modification, or repair and overhaul of aircraft and aircraft mechanical systems to ensure adherence to standards and procedures.
visual inspection — Physical aircraft inspection needs hands-on access and judgment
Inspect aircraft or aircraft components.
#10734 · Core · 80% automatable
Examine maintenance records and flight logs to determine if service and maintenance checks and overhauls were performed at prescribed intervals.
text generation — Policy compliance document review, human owns final call
Review documents or materials for compliance with policies or regulations.
#10733 · Core · 18% automatable
Inspect new, repaired, or modified aircraft to identify damage or defects and to assess airworthiness and conformance to standards, using checklists, hand tools, and test instruments.
visual inspection — Physical aircraft inspection needs hands-on access and judgment
Inspect aircraft or aircraft components.
#10741 · Core · 40% automatable
Approve or deny issuance of certificates of airworthiness.
decision support — License issuance carries legal authority and verification
Issue certificates or licenses.
#10732 · Core · 80% automatable
Prepare and maintain detailed repair, inspection, investigation, and certification records and reports.
text generation — Record service and repair activities from inputs
Record service or repair activities.
#10731 · Core · 18% automatable
Examine landing gear, tires, and exteriors of fuselage, wings, and engines for evidence of damage or corrosion and the need for repairs.
visual inspection — Physical aircraft inspection needs hands-on access and judgment
Inspect aircraft or aircraft components.
#10735 · Core · 66% automatable
Recommend replacement, repair, or modification of aircraft equipment.
decision support — Proposes corrective procedures; human verifies applicability
Recommend changes or corrective procedures.
#10729 · Core · 19% automatable
Start aircraft and observe gauges, meters, and other instruments to detect evidence of malfunctions.
visual inspection — Gauge reading requires physical presence
Monitor equipment gauges or displays to ensure proper operation. Inspect aircraft or aircraft components. Pilot aircraft.
#10730 · Core · 18% automatable
Examine aircraft access plates and doors for security.
visual inspection — Physical aircraft inspection needs hands-on access and judgment
Inspect aircraft or aircraft components.
#10736 · Core · 66% automatable
Recommend changes in rules, policies, standards, and regulations, based on knowledge of operating conditions, aircraft improvements, and other factors.
decision support — Proposes corrective procedures; human verifies applicability
Recommend changes or corrective procedures.
#10738 · Supplemental · 35% automatable
Investigate air accidents and complaints to determine causes.
decision support — Records analysis aided; field investigation human
Investigate transportation incidents, violations, or complaints.
#10742 · Supplemental · 55% automatable
Analyze training programs and conduct oral and written examinations to ensure the competency of persons operating, installing, and repairing aircraft equipment.
decision support — Applicant evaluation needs interviews and judgment
Evaluate performance of applicants, trainees, or employees.
#10740 · Supplemental · 30% automatable
Conduct flight test programs to test equipment, instruments, and systems under a variety of conditions, using both manual and automatic controls.
physical manipulation — Physical test setup and hands-on equipment operation required
Test performance of aircraft equipment.
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How this was scored
- 1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
- 2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
- 3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
- 4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.
Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.
Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast
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