Aviation Inspectors
In short: today's best AI models could do about 24% 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 26% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 74% of the time, stays with people.
Inspect aircraft, maintenance procedures, air navigational aids, air traffic controls, and communications equipment to ensure conformance with Federal safety regulations.
$92,100 a year (for the broader BLS group this job sits in).
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on10 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet1 h
- Stays with people29 h
Aviation Inspectors, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 10 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 1 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 29 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Examine maintenance records and flight logs to determine if service and maintenance checks and overhauls were performed at prescribed intervals (about 3 h); Prepare and maintain detailed repair, inspection, investigation, and certification records and reports (about 3 h); Analyze training programs and conduct oral and written examinations to ensure the competency of persons operating, installing, and repairing aircraft equipment (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.
- 26%
- 0%
- 74%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
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, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 14%. Today's estimate: 24%.
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 13 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 52% of this job's working time as physical work. For 15% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 2% in a purpose-built cell, 12% in a structured facility. 0.27 of 3, the 395th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 48%
- No robot shown 37%
- In a purpose-built cell 2%
- In a structured facility 12%
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 . 13 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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.Done several times a day by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 31% | 2.5 h50 min to 4.2 h | Stays with people | |
| 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.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 24% | 3.3 h1.3 h to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Investigate air accidents and complaints to determine causes.Done more than yearly by most who do it.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 2.5 work days6.7 h to 1.7 work weeks | Stays with people | |
| Examine maintenance records and flight logs to determine if service and maintenance checks and overhauls were performed at prescribed intervals.Done daily by most who do it. | 8% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | 99%Half by now | |
| Prepare and maintain detailed repair, inspection, investigation, and certification records and reports.Done daily by most who do it. | 7% | 1.7 h38 min to 2.5 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Conduct flight test programs to test equipment, instruments, and systems under a variety of conditions, using both manual and automatic controls.Done yearly or less by most who do it.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 6.7 h3.3 h to 1.7 work days | Stays with people | |
| Recommend changes in rules, policies, standards, and regulations, based on knowledge of operating conditions, aircraft improvements, and other factors.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 3% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.1 work days | 61%Half by now | |
| Examine landing gear, tires, and exteriors of fuselage, wings, and engines for evidence of damage or corrosion and the need for repairs.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Donecle Iris GVI (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 50 min25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Analyze training programs and conduct oral and written examinations to ensure the competency of persons operating, installing, and repairing aircraft equipment.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 3% | 5 h1.7 h to 1.7 work days | 80%Half by now | |
| Recommend replacement, repair, or modification of aircraft equipment.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 2% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Approve or deny issuance of certificates of airworthiness.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 2% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | 99%Half by now | |
| Examine aircraft access plates and doors for security.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Air-Cobot (4MOB platform, PTZ camera + automated inspection software) (Akka Technologies / Airbus / LAAS-CNRS / Institut Clément Ader) (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 2% | 25 min13 min to 50 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.
- Transportation Vehicle, Equipment and Systems Inspectors, Except Aviation25% now, 29% by 2028
- Transportation Inspectors30% now, 30% by 2028
- Construction and Building Inspectors49% now, 51% by 2028
- Aerospace Engineering and Operations Technologists and Technicians10% now, 21% by 2028
- Avionics Technicians13% now, 15% by 2028
- Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians11% now, 12% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Aviation Inspectors is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 24% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 26% 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 Aviation Inspectors 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: Examine maintenance records and flight logs to determine if service and maintenance checks and overhauls were performed at prescribed intervals (99% of the task's time now); Prepare and maintain detailed repair, inspection, investigation, and certification records and reports (100% of the task's time now); and Analyze training programs and conduct oral and written examinations to ensure the competency of persons operating, installing, and repairing aircraft equipment (80% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028).
- Which tasks of Aviation Inspectors stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: 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; 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; and Investigate air accidents and complaints to determine causes. Together such tasks are about 74% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Aviation Inspectors?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 0%. 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 Aviation Inspectors?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 52% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 15% of the working time, 12% in a structured facility. Its index is 0.27 of 3. One example: Donecle Iris GVI for "examine landing gear, tires, and exteriors of fuselage, wings, and engines for evidence of damage or corrosion and the need for repairs". 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 13 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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