undergradly.
Major · Transportation

The business side of running airports, airlines, and flight operations

Aviation/Airway Management and Operations trains you for the operations and management side of the aviation industry — airports, airlines, dispatch, FBOs, and regulatory compliance — not the cockpit and not the hangar. About 1,211 degrees are awarded each year across 90 colleges, with five-year median earnings of $82,150.

Schools offering
90
Annual completions
1,211
Typical degree level
Associate's + Bachelor's
Median earnings (5yr)
$82k

About this major

Aviation/Airway Management and Operations is the business-and-operations side of the aviation industry. The CIP definition spells it out: airport operations, ground traffic direction, flightline and ground support, passenger and cargo handling, safety and security, regulatory compliance, and the business mechanics of running aviation enterprises. Coursework blends FAR/AIM regulation, airline economics, airport planning, dispatch theory, and the kind of operations management you’d find in a logistics degree — with the cargo and passengers happening to be moving by air. This is not pilot training (that’s CIP 49.0102, Airline/Commercial/Professional Pilot, with 1,633 graduates a year) and it is not aircraft maintenance.

The major fits students drawn to how complex systems run on tight schedules, who like the regulatory and operational side of moving people and goods, and who want to work inside the aviation industry without necessarily flying the plane. Comfort with rules, checklists, weather data, and the realities of irregular operations matters. Many graduates also pursue stackable FAA credentials — most commonly the Aircraft Dispatcher certificate — alongside the degree, because aviation hires on certifications as much as diplomas.

On the destinations side, 1,211 degrees are awarded annually across 90 colleges, with bachelor’s graduates reporting $83,993 in median five-year earnings and associate’s graduates reporting $75,518 — a narrower gap than most fields show. The BLS career most directly tied to the major is Transportation, storage, and distribution managers at a $102,010 median, but the typical-education field reads ‘high school diploma or equivalent,’ which is the BLS way of saying this is a role you grow into rather than walk into. Entry titles cluster around airline operations specialist, airport operations coordinator, dispatcher, and FBO supervisor.

Section 3 · Careers

Where this major leads

Occupations most often associated with this major, from the federal BLS+O*NET crosswalk. Job-growth projections and median wages are national.

Occupation Median wage Job growth Typical education
Transportation, storage, and distribution managers $102k +6.1% High school diploma or equivalent
Section 4 · Earnings

Earnings at a glance

Median graduate earnings from the federal College Scorecard, 5 and 10 years out.

Median 5-year earnings

$82k

Associate's vs Bachelor's — early-career earnings

Associate's

$76k

Bachelor's

$84k

Who this major is for

You may thrive here if you’re drawn to how airports and airlines run as 24/7 operations rather than to flying itself, if you’re comfortable studying FAA regulation and weather minimums with the same focus a finance student gives to accounting standards, if a starting role on an airport ramp or in an ops center reads as a real first job rather than a step backward, if you can see the path from operations specialist at $50K to airport manager at $100K+ as a 10-year arc, and if the $83,993 bachelor’s five-year median earnings figure matches your expectations for the early career.

Think twice if your real interest is flying — the BLS pilot path requires an ATP certificate plus 1,500 flight hours that this degree doesn’t deliver, and CIP 49.0102 (Airline/Commercial/Professional Pilot, 1,633 graduates a year) is the more direct route. Reconsider also if you’re hoping for a desk job in a corporate office, since aviation operations work happens in control rooms, ramps, and terminals on rotating shifts including overnights, weekends, and holidays. And if the management-track outcomes are what attract you, remember that the Transportation, storage, and distribution managers role at $102,010 is a mid-career destination earned through years in the operation — not a title attached to a fresh diploma.

Section 6 · Where to study

Top colleges for Aviation/Airway Management and Operations

Ranked by annual completions at the associate's or bachelor's level — a proxy for program scale.

College Location Assoc. Bach. Total
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale Carbondale, IL 0 122 122
Lewis University Romeoville, IL 0 102 102
Auburn University Auburn, AL 0 88 88
Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology Flushing, NY 12 65 77
Liberty University Lynchburg, VA 0 66 66
Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH 0 65 65
Broward College Fort Lauderdale, FL 54 0 54
University of North Dakota Grand Forks, ND 0 47 47
Farmingdale State College Farmingdale, NY 0 38 38
CUNY York College Jamaica, NY 0 34 34
Section 7 · Explore sideways

Related majors to explore

Aeronautics/Aviation/Aerospace Science and Technology, General

5,383 completions/yr

Operations Management and Supervision

2,998 completions/yr

Airline/Commercial/Professional Pilot and Flight Crew

1,633 completions/yr

Air Traffic Controller

153 completions/yr

Air Transportation, Other

129 completions/yr

Greenhouse Operations and Management

46 completions/yr

Remote Aircraft Pilot

28 completions/yr

Airline Flight Attendant

21 completions/yr
Section 9 · Frequently asked

Common questions

Will this major teach me how to fly?
No. Aviation/Airway Management and Operations is a business and operations degree — airport ops, airline scheduling, dispatch, ground handling, safety, and FAA regulation. Pilot training falls under a separate CIP, Airline/Commercial/Professional Pilot and Flight Crew (49.0102), which graduates roughly 1,633 students per year and bundles flight hours, ratings, and FAA medical clearance. Some schools (Embry-Riddle, UND, Auburn) let you pair the management major with a flight program at additional cost, but the management degree alone does not put you in the left seat.
What do Aviation Management majors actually study day-to-day?
Coursework covers airport operations, ground traffic direction, flightline and ground support, passenger and cargo operations, aviation safety and security, FAA regulation, and the business side of running aviation enterprises. You spend time on FAR/AIM regulatory frameworks, aviation accounting and finance, airline economics, and case studies in airport planning. Many programs include a dispatch course or a separate FAA dispatcher certification track, since dispatch is a defined entry-level role with its own credential.
What jobs do graduates actually start in?
Bachelor’s graduates typically enter as airline operations specialists, airport operations coordinators, FBO line service supervisors, flight dispatchers (after the FAA dispatcher exam), aviation safety analysts, or regulatory compliance assistants. Starting salaries run lower than the headline figures — often in the $45–60K range — with the $82,150 five-year median reflecting the climb into ramp manager, ops manager, or station manager roles. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers ($102,010 BLS median) is a long-term destination, but it’s a mid-career role earned through years inside the operation, not a first job out of school.
What about air traffic control or becoming an airline pilot?
Both are popular goals among aviation management students, and both have entry pipelines this degree does not unlock on its own. Air traffic controllers ($137K+ median) hire through the FAA Academy with strict age cutoffs and a separate selection process — the major helps with awareness but isn’t a direct path. Airline pilots earn well too, but typical entry requires an ATP certificate, a first-class FAA medical, and 1,500 logged flight hours, all built outside this curriculum. If flying or ATC is the actual goal, the related CIPs (49.0102 for pilots, 49.0105 for ATC, with 1,633 and 153 completions respectively) are the more direct degrees.
Bachelor’s or associate’s — does the level matter here?
Bachelor’s completers report median five-year earnings of $83,993; associate’s completers report $75,518 — a gap of about $8,500, narrower than in most fields. The associate’s figure is unusually strong because it captures a vocational cohort heading into dispatch, ramp supervision, and FBO operations where the credential matters less than FAA certifications and on-job time. A bachelor’s is the right call if you want airport management or airline corporate roles; an associate’s plus an FAA dispatcher cert can move you into operating roles faster and cheaper.
Where are the strongest programs?
Production concentrates at a handful of aviation-heavy schools. Southern Illinois Carbondale leads at 122 bachelor’s graduates, followed by Lewis University (102), Auburn (88), Vaughn College of Aeronautics (77 combined associate and bachelor), Liberty (66), and Ohio State (65). University of North Dakota and Farmingdale State round out the list, both well-known in airline recruiting circles. Notably absent from this top-10 cohort: Embry-Riddle and Purdue file aviation completions under different CIPs, so the 90-college, 1,211-completion footprint is a floor for the broader field.