Aircraft Cargo Handling Supervisors
Supervise and coordinate the activities of ground crew in the loading, unloading, securing, and staging of aircraft cargo or baggage. May determine the quantity and orientation of cargo and compute aircraft center of gravity. May accompany aircraft as member of flight crew and monitor and handle cargo in flight, and assist and brief passengers on safety and emergency procedures. Includes loadmasters.
Most important skills
- Critical Thinking
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Monitoring
- Time Management
- Learning Strategies
- Coordination
Key knowledge
- Customer and Personal Service
- Public Safety and Security
- Transportation
- English Language
- Administration and Management
- Administrative
- Personnel and Human Resources
- Mathematics
What the work involves
- Distribute cargo to maximize use of space.
- Direct ground crews in the loading, unloading, securing, or staging of aircraft cargo or baggage.
- Determine the quantity and orientation of cargo, and compute an aircraft's center of gravity.
- Train new employees in areas such as safety procedures or equipment operation.
- Calculate load weights for different aircraft compartments, using charts and computers.
- Accompany aircraft as a member of the flight crew to monitor and handle cargo in flight.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Enterprising, Conventional, Realistic.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (64.1% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (41.6%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 3 months, up to and including 6 months (40.6%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Aircraft Cargo Handling Supervisors is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very high | Higher on contact with others than 92% of occupations compared | 89% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very high | Higher on dealing with the public than 82% of occupations compared | 60% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Very high | Higher on teamwork than 95% of occupations compared | 85% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | High | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 78% of occupations compared | — |
| Time pressure | Very high | Higher on time pressure than 96% of occupations compared | 81% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very high | Higher on conflict situations than 96% of occupations compared | 62% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 89% of occupations compared | 43% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Consequence of error | High | Higher on consequence of error than 77% of occupations compared | 59% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very high
- Conflict situations: very high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- Consequence of error: high
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0%
- Contact with others most of the time: 10.93%
- Constant contact with others: 89.07%
n = 18, Incumbent 07/2016
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 2.96%
- Fairly important: 2.96%
- Important: 21.01%
- Very important: 12.75%
- Extremely important: 60.32%
n = 18, Incumbent 07/2016
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 0%
- Very important: 15.22%
- Extremely important: 84.78%
n = 18, Incumbent 07/2016
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 1.98%
- Limited freedom: 4.94%
- Some freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- A lot of freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 18, Incumbent 07/2016
Time pressure
- Never: 1.98%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 6.05%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 10.73%
- Every day: 81.24%
n = 18, Incumbent 07/2016
Conflict situations
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 2.03%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 14.69%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 62%
- Every day: 21.27%
n = 18, Incumbent 07/2016
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 4.94%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 10.28%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 16.72%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 42.52%
- Every day: 25.54%
n = 18, Incumbent 07/2016
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 18.68%
- Fairly serious: 17.69%
- Serious: 1.98%
- Very serious: 2.96%
- Extremely serious: 58.7%
n = 18, Incumbent 07/2016
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O*NET-SOC 53-1041.00 · SOC 53-1041 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8