A line technician (commonly known as a line tech, line guy, gas jockey or ramp rat) is someone who works on an

airport ramp The airport apron, apron, flight line, or ramp is the area of an airport where aircraft are parked, unloaded or loaded, refueled, boarded, or maintained. Although the use of the apron is covered by regulations, such as lighting on vehicles, it ...

at a

fixed-base operator A fixed-base operator (FBO) is an organization granted the right by an airport to operate at the airport and provide aeronautical services such as fueling, hangaring, tie-down, and parking, aircraft rental, aircraft maintenance, flight instruction ...

(FBO), a business that typically handles

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

aircraft as opposed to commercial traffic. Their technical responsibilities include coordinating ramp operations and aircraft movement via radio, marshalling, fueling, towing aircraft, operating

ground support equipment Ground support equipment (GSE) is the support equipment found at an airport, usually on the apron, the servicing area by the terminal. This equipment is used to service the aircraft between flights. As the name suggests, ground support equipment ...

, servicing aircraft, potable water and lavatory systems, checking and maintaining proper aircraft engine oil and tire pressure levels, sampling

aviation fuel Aviation fuels are either petroleum-based or blends of petroleum and synthetic fuels, used to power aircraft. They have more stringent requirements than fuels used for ground applications, such as heating and road transport, and they contain add ...

for

quality control Quality control (QC) is a process by which entities review the quality of all factors involved in production. ISO 9000 defines quality control as "a part of quality management focused on fulfilling quality requirements". This approach plac ...

, conducting

deicing De-icing is the process of removing snow, ice or frost from a surface. Anti-icing is the application of chemicals that not only de-ice but also remain on a surface and continue to delay the reformation of ice for a certain period of time, or pr ...

operations, and performing runway inspections. Customer service-related responsibilities include greeting and assisting passengers, loading baggage, providing coffee, ice, newspapers, and catering to the aircraft, driving rental cars to and from the aircraft, and providing ground transportation around the airfield. The most notable corporation that handles these services is

Swissport Swissport International Ltd. is a Swiss aviation services company providing airport ground handling, lounge hospitality and cargo handling services. Its headquarters are located in Opfikon, Canton of Zürich, Switzerland. In 2022, Swissport h ...

and the runner-up is Service Air.

References

Transport occupations {{job-stub