What does a Ground Crew do?

Updated January 8, 2025
6 min read

Ground crews, also known as ground staff, are personnel that work at the airport. These crews are either avionics technicians, customer service and ramp agents, or flight dispatchers. They service the airline while on the ground. Their primary responsibility is to ensure that the airline runway and gate are both clear from debris or garbage to prevent them from being sucked by the plane's engine. They also inspect the tarmac and take out any items found before the plane's arrival or departure.

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Ground crew responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real ground crew resumes:

  • Manage the maintenance for all generators: small Honda 4000 and Onan 6500K's.
  • Used hand saws and hand pruners as well as motorized saws to manage tree cuttings on the ground.
  • Used rakes, shovels, pruning saws, brush trimmers, axes, and other equipment.
  • Collect debris and refuge from tree trimming and removal operations into piles using shovels, rakes, and other tools.
  • Use landscape tools-rakes, shovels, and shrub pruners.
  • Synchronize missile defense operations within NATO's southern region.
  • Provide air and missile defense guidance and expertise to AIRSOUTH leadership and staff.
  • Do schedule maintenance on Honda screw stake machine and backup generator at mast site.
  • Used a wood chipper, leaf blowers and chain see to assist foreman to take down multiple trees daily.
  • Use of string-trimmers, leaf blowers, pole-saws, chainsaws, sod-cutters, a skid-lift/fork-lift, and multiple hand tools.
  • Cut grass, edge grass, blow grass from sidewalks, and also move furniture from different classrooms and other facilities.
  • Operate critical airborne combat system.
  • Gain experience in mowing, aeration and general maintenance practices
  • Cut grass surrounding entire facility using diesel power riding equipment.
  • Trust with responsibility of mowers and other very expensive equipment.

Ground crew skills and personality traits

We calculated that 22% of Ground Crews are proficient in Mowing, GRASS, and Snow Removal.

We break down the percentage of Ground Crews that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Mowing, 22%

    Gained experience in mowing, aeration and general maintenance practices

  • GRASS, 14%

    Cut grass surrounding entire facility using diesel powered riding equipment.

  • Snow Removal, 7%

    Conducted snow removal regularly as required.

  • Safety Procedures, 6%

    Operated tools, equipment and machinery according to prescribed safety procedures.

  • General Upkeep, 5%

    Assist in the maintenance and General upkeep of the golf courses, in this prestigious upscale community.

  • Fairways, 4%

    Maintained professional appearance of greens and fairways

Common skills that a ground crew uses to do their job include "mowing," "grass," and "snow removal." You can find details on the most important ground crew responsibilities below.

Physical stamina. The most essential soft skill for a ground crew to carry out their responsibilities is physical stamina. This skill is important for the role because "grounds maintenance workers must be able to do strenuous labor for long periods of time, occasionally in extreme heat or cold." Additionally, a ground crew resume shows how their duties depend on physical stamina: "required a lot of heavy lifting and physical labor in hot weather conditions. "

All ground crew skills

The three companies that hire the most ground crews are:

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Compare different ground crews

Ground crew vs. Keeper

A storekeeper is responsible for managing all a store's operations and overseeing the care and maintenance of stocks, including inventory management. Your duties will include receiving, unloading, and shelving supplies, inspecting deliveries for discrepancies and damage, and managing all documentation. In addition, you will be responsible for maintaining inventory control and coordinating freight handling. You are also responsible for planning campaigns to promote new products, mediating any conflicts between clients and staff, maintaining a sales record, and purchasing new products.

The annual salary of keepers is $216 higher than the average salary of ground crews.

While similarities exist, there are also some differences between ground crews and keeper. For instance, ground crew responsibilities require skills such as "grass," "snow removal," "safety procedures," and "general upkeep." Whereas a keeper is skilled in "guest rooms," "dependability," "excellent guest," and "animal husbandry." This is part of what separates the two careers.

Keepers tend to make the most money working in the manufacturing industry, where they earn an average salary of $38,817. In contrast, ground crews make the biggest average salary, $34,910, in the manufacturing industry.On average, keepers reach similar levels of education than ground crews. Keepers are 1.5% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Ground crew vs. Lawn maintenance worker

When it comes to landscape labor, one of the primary responsibilities is to perform landscape support tasks such as trimming the lawn, digging holes, planting flowers and trees, placing garden designs, and installing devices such as sprinkler systems. The majority of the tasks require physical work; there are instances where they must create structures such as ponds, fences, borders, patios, and other outdoor features. Furthermore, most of the tasks are in a group setting, which is why it is essential to coordinate with team members and adhere to the directives of supervisors or clients.

A career as a lawn maintenance worker brings a lower average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a ground crew. In fact, lawn maintenance workers salary is $4,039 lower than the salary of ground crews per year.Only some things about these jobs are the same. Take their skills, for example. Ground crews and lawn maintenance workers both require similar skills like "mowing," "grass," and "snow removal" to carry out their responsibilities.

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, ground crew responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "safety procedures," "general upkeep," "fairways," and "manual labor." Meanwhile, a lawn maintenance worker has duties that require skills in areas such as "hand tools," "ladders," "dexterity," and "manual dexterity." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

Lawn maintenance workers earn a lower average salary than ground crews. But lawn maintenance workers earn the highest pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $30,057. Additionally, ground crews earn the highest salaries in the manufacturing with average pay of $34,910 annually.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Lawn maintenance workers tend to reach similar levels of education than ground crews. In fact, they're 0.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Ground crew vs. Landscape labour

An average landscape labour eans a lower salary compared to the average salary of ground crews. The difference in salaries amounts to landscape labours earning a $4,343 lower average salary than ground crews.By looking over several ground crews and landscape labours resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "mowing," "grass," and "snow removal." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a ground crew is likely to be skilled in "safety procedures," "general upkeep," "fairways," and "course maintenance," while a typical landscape labour is skilled in "hand tools," "mow lawns," "sprinklers," and "retaining walls."

Landscape labours earn the highest salary when working in the health care industry, where they receive an average salary of $29,929. Comparatively, ground crews have the highest earning potential in the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $34,910.When it comes to education, landscape labours tend to earn similar degree levels compared to ground crews. In fact, they're 1.0% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.2% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Ground crew vs. Lawn technician

Lawn technicians typically earn lower pay than ground crews. On average, lawn technicians earn a $1,030 lower salary per year.While their salaries may vary, ground crews and lawn technicians both use similar skills to perform their duties. Resumes from both professions include skills like "mowing," "snow removal," and "safety procedures. "While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "grass," "general upkeep," "fairways," and "manual labor" are skills that commonly show up on ground crew resumes. On the other hand, lawn technicians use skills like quality customer service, fertilize lawns, pest control, and general maintenance on their resumes.The construction industry tends to pay the highest salaries for lawn technicians, with average annual pay of $33,766. Comparatively, the highest ground crew annual salary comes from the manufacturing industry.In general, lawn technicians hold similar degree levels compared to ground crews. Lawn technicians are 0.3% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of ground crew

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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