Top 12 Line Service Technician Skills to Put on Your Resume
In the dynamic world of aviation, line service technicians keep the ramp humming and the turnarounds tight. A sharp resume helps, but the skills behind it matter more. Spotlight the essentials—safety, precision, service—and you’ll stand out fast in a field where minutes and millimeters count.
Line Service Technician Skills
- Fuel Management
- Aircraft Marshalling
- Ground Support Equipment (GSE)
- Safety Compliance
- Tow Operations
- Deicing Procedures
- Hazardous Materials Handling (HAZMAT)
- Customer Service
- Ramp Operations
- Aircraft Servicing
- Emergency Response
- Quality Control
1. Fuel Management
Fuel management means storing, testing, and dispensing aviation fuel—safely, cleanly, precisely. From bonding and grounding to clear-and-bright checks, you guard the tanks, the hoses, and the wing.
Why It's Important
Done right, fuel management keeps aircraft reliable, protects people and equipment, and prevents contamination or costly delays. It also ensures compliance with regulations and company procedures while minimizing environmental risk.
How to Improve Fuel Management Skills
Sharpen the process, reduce surprises, and document everything.
Quality checks, every time: Perform sump drains, clear-and-bright inspections, water detection, and monitor filter differential pressure. Track temperature and density; adjust for fuel expansion where procedures require.
Bonding and grounding: Standardize connection order and verify continuity. No exceptions. No shortcuts.
Equipment upkeep: Inspect nozzles, deadman controls, filters, seals, meters, and hoses on schedule. Replace before failure, not after.
Contamination prevention: Keep DEF, oils, and non-fuel chemicals far from fueling areas. Color-code and lock fittings. Label everything with ruthless clarity.
Digital tracking: Use electronic logs for loads, samples, and maintenance. Trends reveal issues early.
How to Display Fuel Management Skills on Your Resume
2. Aircraft Marshalling
Marshalling guides aircraft by hand signals or wands to precise spots on a busy ramp. You are the pilot’s eyes on the ground.
Why It's Important
It prevents wingtip scrapes, engine blast mishaps, and stand confusion. Smooth marshalling speeds turnarounds and sets the tone for safe servicing.
How to Improve Aircraft Marshalling Skills
Clarity and consistency win.
Standard signals: Use internationally recognized hand signals and keep movements bold, unambiguous, and steady.
Visibility: High-vis gear, lighted wands at dusk or night, and clean, readable ramp markings help everyone see the plan.
Positioning: Hold line-of-sight with the pilot, manage speed cues, and call for wing walkers when clearance tightens.
Brief and debrief: Quick chats with crew and teammates before and after help iron out friction points.
Equipment checks: Test headsets, wands, and radios before use. Replace weak batteries. No dead comms at go-time.
How to Display Aircraft Marshalling Skills on Your Resume
3. Ground Support Equipment (GSE)
GSE includes the tugs, GPUs, fuel trucks, lav carts, belt loaders, and more—the machinery that feeds, moves, and powers aircraft on the ground.
Why It's Important
Reliable GSE prevents delays, protects aircraft, and keeps crews safe. When equipment stumbles, schedules wobble.
How to Improve Ground Support Equipment (GSE) Skills
Treat GSE like aircraft-adjacent assets—because they are.
Pre-use inspections: Brakes, lights, tires, fluids, safety interlocks, and couplers—check them before the first task, not after the failure.
Preventive maintenance: Follow hours-based service intervals and document every repair. Small adjustments now beat major downtime later.
Right-size assignments: Match tug capacity to aircraft mass and slope. Use chocks and spotters on tight turns.
Operator training: Cross-train on different models, and reinforce safe speeds, stopping distances, and ramp right-of-way rules.
Telematics and logs: Track usage, faults, and charging/fueling cycles. Data tells the truth about wear and misuse.
How to Display Ground Support Equipment (GSE) Skills on Your Resume
4. Safety Compliance
Safety compliance means aligning daily work with regulations, company SOPs, and common sense—consistently, even under pressure.
Why It's Important
It prevents injuries, protects aircraft, and keeps operations legal and insurable. The ramp rewards discipline; it punishes complacency.
How to Improve Safety Compliance Skills
Build habits, not loopholes.
Know the rules: Stay current with company SOPs, airport rules, and applicable aviation and workplace safety guidance. Review changes in briefings.
Use PPE correctly: Hearing protection, eye protection, gloves, high-vis gear—wear the right kit for the task and environment.
Housekeeping: Keep lanes clear, spill kits ready, and FOD off the pavement. Orderly ramps stay safer.
Speak up: Normalize near-miss reporting and stop-work authority. Fast feedback prevents repeats.
Drills and refreshers: Practice emergencies, fuel spills, and fire response so reactions are crisp when it counts.
How to Display Safety Compliance Skills on Your Resume
5. Tow Operations
Tow operations move aircraft safely between hangars, stands, and ramps using towbar or towbarless tractors, wing walkers, and tight choreography.
Why It's Important
Towing is low speed but high consequence. A few inches off-line becomes expensive in a heartbeat. Good towing prevents bent metal and bruised schedules.
How to Improve Tow Operations Skills
Precision stacked on communication.
Standard pre-tow checks: Confirm tug capacity, bar pins and shear links, nose gear limitations, brake rider brief, chocks, and route clearance.
Communication plan: Use headsets or clear hand signals. Assign roles: lead, wing walkers, brake rider. No overlapping authority.
Environmental limits: Respect wind, slope, and surface conditions. Slow down on contaminated ramps and at night.
Speed control: Smooth starts, gentle turns, straight stops. Protect gearboxes and gear legs with calm hands.
Post-tow review: Quick debrief to catch tight spots, blind corners, or signage gaps for next time.
How to Display Tow Operations Skills on Your Resume
6. Deicing Procedures
Deicing and anti-icing remove existing contamination and protect critical surfaces from refreezing. Fluids, trucks, nozzles, and timing all matter—especially when the clock and temperature race each other.
Why It's Important
Ice degrades lift, disrupts sensors, and lengthens takeoff roll. Proper procedures keep aerodynamics clean and decisions defensible.
How to Improve Deicing Procedures Skills
Cold logic, warm fluids, zero guesswork.
Train for conditions: Learn one-step vs. two-step methods and aircraft-specific no-spray zones. Practice nozzle angles and distance.
Fluid mastery: Understand SAE Types I, II, III, and IV. Mix to spec, verify concentration, and track temperatures.
Holdover discipline: Use current seasonal holdover guidance and record start times precisely. Reassess during changing precipitation.
Equipment readiness: Pre-winter maintenance on heaters, pumps, booms, and hoses. Keep spare tips and calibrate flow.
Environmental stewardship: Capture runoff where required and minimize overspray. Clean ramp areas reduce slip hazards and impact.
Clear comms: Coordinate with flight crew on anti-icing codes, fluid types, and start times. No ambiguity before taxi.
How to Display Deicing Procedures Skills on Your Resume
7. Hazardous Materials Handling (HAZMAT)
HAZMAT handling covers identification, storage, use, and disposal of fuels, oxygen, chemicals, batteries, and other regulated materials on the ramp.
Why It's Important
Mismanaged hazardous materials trigger injuries, environmental damage, and fines. Good handling protects people, aircraft, and the community.
How to Improve Hazardous Materials Handling (HAZMAT) Skills
Train, label, separate, and prepare.
Formal training: Complete required hazmat training and refreshers. Know classifications, documentation, and emergency steps.
PPE and tools: Wear task-appropriate protection and keep spill kits stocked and accessible. Inspect extinguishers and eyewash stations.
Segregation and labeling: Store incompatible materials apart. Use correct labels and maintain Safety Data Sheets that are easy to find.
Secure storage: Ventilate where needed, control temperature, and lock cabinets. Track inventory to avoid out-of-date stock.
Drills and audits: Practice spill response and inspect storage routinely. Fix gaps fast.
How to Display Hazardous Materials Handling (HAZMAT) Skills on Your Resume
8. Customer Service
On the ramp, customer service blends precision and hospitality. You greet flight crews, coordinate quick turns, and deliver exactly what was ordered—without drama.
Why It's Important
Great service keeps operators coming back. It reduces miscommunication, speeds decisions, and builds trust when weather or schedules go sideways.
How to Improve Customer Service Skills
Make it smooth, make it personal, keep it accurate.
Active listening: Confirm tail number, fuel type, quantities, add-ons, and timing. Repeat key details to lock them in.
Ramp etiquette: Approach aircraft with care, mind prop and jet blast zones, and respect crew flows during checklists.
Responsiveness: Provide clear ETAs, offer alternatives when delays occur, and follow up after completion.
Professional presentation: Clean vehicles, tidy cones, sharp uniforms. Small signals, big trust.
Close the loop: Verify work orders and signatures, update the ops desk, and capture feedback to improve the next turn.
How to Display Customer Service Skills on Your Resume
9. Ramp Operations
Ramp operations tie everything together: marshalling, fueling, towing, baggage, catering, and coordination with the tower and ops desk.
Why It's Important
Safe, orderly ramps keep aircraft moving and people protected. Efficiency here ripples through the day’s schedule.
How to Improve Ramp Operations Skills
Structure the chaos.
FOD control: Frequent walks, magnet sweeps, and disciplined housekeeping. Debris-free ramps save tires and time.
Staging and flow: Place cones, chocks, and equipment for clear routes. Avoid “stacked” vehicles and blind spots.
Equipment readiness: Preventive maintenance and spare units for critical tasks. Downtime is contagious.
Clear communications: Use standard callouts and hand signals. Keep radios concise and confirm readbacks for critical instructions.
Ongoing training: Refresh winter ops, hot weather procedures, and night operations. Practice abnormal scenarios so normal stays normal.
How to Display Ramp Operations Skills on Your Resume
10. Aircraft Servicing
Aircraft servicing covers fueling, GPU hookups, lavatory and potable water, oxygen and nitrogen, tire pressure checks, and quick visual inspections.
Why It's Important
Done accurately, servicing protects aircraft systems, trims delays, and keeps flights on schedule. Sloppy servicing invites rework, snags, and unhappy crews.
How to Improve Aircraft Servicing Skills
Know the aircraft, respect the details.
Type-specific knowledge: Study access panels, servicing points, and limits by model. Confirm placards before connecting anything.
Connection discipline: Verify voltage and pinouts for GPUs, use correct adapters, and test before powering avionics.
Fluids and gases: Follow purity and pressure specs for oxygen and nitrogen. Keep tools clean and caps protected from contamination.
Lav and water hygiene: Use approved chemicals and procedures. Prevent cross-contamination with dedicated hoses and clear labeling.
Checklists and logs: Use SOP checklists and record quantities, times, and anomalies. Consistency beats memory.
How to Display Aircraft Servicing Skills on Your Resume
11. Emergency Response
Emergency response spans fuel spills, fires, medical events, and severe weather. Speed helps, but preparation wins.
Why It's Important
Quick, correct action minimizes harm, limits damage, and restores operations. The worst day is the wrong day to start learning.
How to Improve Emergency Response Skills
Plan, practice, refine.
Procedures and roles: Define who calls, who clears, who contains, and who documents. Make it muscle memory.
Drills: Run realistic scenarios—fuel spills, fire near an engine, evacuation, first aid. Rotate roles to build depth.
Equipment checks: Inspect extinguishers, spill kits, eye wash stations, and first-aid kits. Replace seals and expired items promptly.
Communications: Keep emergency channels uncluttered, confirm readbacks, and log times and actions.
After-action reviews: Capture lessons learned, update SOPs, and brief the team. Improvement is part of the response.
How to Display Emergency Response Skills on Your Resume
12. Quality Control
Quality control ensures procedures are followed, records are accurate, tools are maintained, and standards don’t slip as the day gets busy.
Why It's Important
It prevents repeat errors, protects aircraft, and builds a reliable operation. Consistency is a safety system all its own.
How to Improve Quality Control Skills
Make quality visible and measurable.
Standardized SOPs: Keep checklists current and mandatory. Use them in real time, not after the fact.
Audits and spot checks: Review fueling logs, equipment inspection sheets, and servicing records. Verify, don’t assume.
Calibration and labeling: Calibrate meters and sensors on schedule. Label tools, hoses, and adapters to prevent mix-ups.
Contamination controls: Segregate chemicals, cap lines, and protect connectors. Document filter changes and results of fuel quality tests.
Continuous feedback: Encourage suggestions, track corrective actions, and close the loop with the team.
How to Display Quality Control Skills on Your Resume
