Aircraft Service Attendants
In short: today's best AI models could do about 15% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about the same by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 85% of the time, stays with people.
Service aircraft with fuel. May de-ice aircraft, refill water and cooling agents, empty sewage tanks, service air and oxygen systems, or clean and polish exterior.
31,300 people do this job in the US. $40,450 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on6 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people34 h
Aircraft Service Attendants, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 6 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 34 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Complete forms describing tasks completed (about 5 h); Radio to flight dispatchers or other personnel to discuss incoming or outgoing aircraft (about 1 h).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 15%
- 0%
- 85%
Anthropic's data does not cover this job.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 4%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 15%. Today's estimate: 15%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
None of this job's 11 tasks showed up in the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled in any of its 7 releases, from February 2025 to May 2026.
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 84% of this job's working time as physical work. For 79% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 79% in a purpose-built cell. 0.79 of 3, the 226th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 16%
- No robot shown 5%
- In a purpose-built cell 79%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 11 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apply de-icing fluid to aircraft from baskets lifted by truck-mounted cranes.Done hourly or more by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Wilder Systems robotic 'drive-thru' aircraft washing system (FANUC robots, RoboDK offline programming) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 19% | 33 min17 min to 58 min | Stays with people | |
| Inspect aircraft components to locate cracks, breaks, leaks, or other problems.Done hourly or more by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, In-Line Automated Leak Tester (Robotic Inspection Systems) (Cincinnati Automation Ltd.) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 17% | 38 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Refuel aircraft using hoses connected to fuel trucks.Done hourly or more by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Automated Aircraft Ground Refueling (AAGR) robot (US Air Force Research Laboratory with Stratom) (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 15% | 29 min17 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Complete forms describing tasks completed.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 12% | 17 min8 min to 29 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Load baggage or cargo for crew or passengers.Done several times a day by most who do it.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 11% | 42 min17 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Tow aircraft to gates or hangars using tugs, tractors, or other vehicles.Done several times a day by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Changi/SATS autonomous airside tractors (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 25 min13 min to 42 min | Stays with people | |
| Guide aircraft to designated areas using hand signals, batons, or other methods.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 7% | 13 min4 min to 21 min | Stays with people | |
| Refill aircraft potable water tanks.Done more than weekly by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Automated Aircraft Ground Refueling (AAGR) prototype robot (US Air Force Research Laboratory) (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 17 min8 min to 33 min | Stays with people | |
| Radio to flight dispatchers or other personnel to discuss incoming or outgoing aircraft.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 3% | 4 min3 min to 8 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Empty aircraft lavatory systems or refill them with sanitizer fluid.Done several times a day by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, ROBOFUEL (Scott Automation) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 2% | 17 min8 min to 33 min | Stays with people | |
| Climb ladders to reach aircraft surfaces to be cleaned.Done daily by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Wilder Systems robotic 'drive-thru' aircraft washing cell (FANUC robots, RoboDK programming) (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 1% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians11% now, 12% by 2028
- Avionics Technicians13% now, 15% by 2028
- Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers4% now, 4% by 2028
- Commercial Pilots27% now, 27% by 2028
- Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment1% now, 1% by 2028
- Rail Car Repairers3% now, 3% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Aircraft Service Attendants is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 15% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 15% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five. Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Aircraft Service Attendants come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Complete forms describing tasks completed (100% of the task's time now); and Radio to flight dispatchers or other personnel to discuss incoming or outgoing aircraft (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Aircraft Service Attendants stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Apply de-icing fluid to aircraft from baskets lifted by truck-mounted cranes; Inspect aircraft components to locate cracks, breaks, leaks, or other problems; and Refuel aircraft using hoses connected to fuel trucks. Together such tasks are about 85% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Aircraft Service Attendants?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Aircraft Service Attendants?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 84% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 79% of the working time. Its index is 0.79 of 3. One example: Wilder Systems robotic 'drive-thru' aircraft washing system (FANUC robots, RoboDK offline programming) for "apply de-icing fluid to aircraft from baskets lifted by truck-mounted cranes". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 11 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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