Description
Diagnose, adjust, repair, and overhaul airport ground support equipment, including engines and assemblies such as hydraulic, pneumatic, electrical, and cooling systems, to ensure safe and reliable ramp operations.
- • Read and interpret maintenance manuals, service bulletins, wiring diagrams, and OEM specifications to determine repair methods for malfunctioning components.
- • Inspect completed work to certify that maintenance meets standards and that equipment is ready for service.
- • Maintain repair logs and CMMS records documenting all preventive and corrective maintenance.
- • Conduct routine and special inspections as required by company policy, OEM guidance, and regulatory or airport authority rules.
- • Examine and inspect GSE components, including brakes, steering, hydraulics, lifts, booms, and deicing systems, to locate cracks, leaks, or other problems.
- • Inspect chassis frames, hitches, towbars, and lift arms for wear or defects.
- • Maintain, repair, and rebuild GSE structures and functional components such as chassis, drivelines, axles, hydraulic units, nitrogen or oxygen carts, fuel systems, electrical systems, gaskets, and seals.
- • Measure belt and chain tension, cable preload, and alignment on drives and hoists.
- • Replace or repair worn, defective, or damaged components using hand tools, gauges, and diagnostic equipment.
- • Measure parts for wear using micrometers, calipers, dial indicators, and other precision instruments.
- • Assemble and install electrical, plumbing, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, and structural components and accessories using hand or power tools.
- • Test operation of engines and other systems using diagnostic scan tools, multimeters, ammeters, oscilloscopes, pressure gauges, flow meters, and load banks.
- • Obtain fuel, oil, coolant, and hydraulic fluid samples and check them for contamination.
- • Reassemble engines and transmissions after repair and reinstall powertrains in equipment.
- • Read and interpret operator reports and dispatch notes to diagnose fault causes.
- • Modify or retrofit GSE structures, systems, or components following drawings, schematics, charts, engineering orders, and technical publications.
- • Install and align repaired or replacement parts for subsequent fastening, riveting, or welding using clamps and wrenches.
- • Locate and mark dimensions and reference lines on defective or replacement parts using templates, scribes, punches, and steel rules.
- • Clean, strip, prime, and sand structural surfaces and materials to prepare them for bonding or painting.
- • Service and maintain GSE by flushing crankcases, cleaning screens and filters, lubricating, and adjusting moving parts.
- • Use inspection ports, borescopes, lifts, or cranes to examine engines and hard-to-reach systems.
- • Remove or install engines, generators, compressors, or pumps using hoists or forklift trucks.
- • Inventory and requisition or order supplies, parts, materials, and shop equipment.
- • Fabricate brackets, guards, hoses, and panels using metal fabricating machines, saws, brakes, shears, and grinders.
- • Remove or cut out defective parts or drill holes to access internal defects or damage using drills and punches.
- • Clean, refuel, and change oil and filters on GSE and support vehicles.
- • Communicate with ramp agents, operations, and other technicians to coordinate fitting and alignment of heavy parts and schedule downtime.
- • Trim and shape replacement body sections or panels to specified sizes and secure sections in place using adhesives, fasteners, and welding.
- • Clean carburetors, injectors, tanks, and screens, adjusting carburetor float levels and fuel pressure.
- • Prepare and paint equipment surfaces.
- • Mask surrounding areas to prevent damage during repairs.
- • Check for corrosion, distortion, and cracks in frames, booms, welds, and lift structures using visual inspection and magnetic particle or dye penetrant methods.
- • Disassemble engines, compressors, hydraulic pumps, and gearboxes to inspect parts for corrosion, wear, warping, cracks, and leaks using precision measuring instruments and NDT.
- • Determine repair limits for turbine hot section parts in air start units and GPU turbines per OEM data.
- • Cure bonded structures and adhesives using portable or stationary curing equipment.
- • Listen to operating engines and drivetrains to detect and diagnose malfunctions such as misfires, bearing noise, or belt slip.
- • Provide on-ramp and field service support, responding to in-service equipment calls and performing troubleshooting and adjustments.
- • Service, test, and repair towbars, tow tractors, PCAs, GPUs, air start units, belt loaders, and deicer trucks.
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O*NET occupational data (work activities, skills, knowledge).
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This site includes information from O*NET by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. Career Clutch has modified some of this information for student readability. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Last reviewed: Jan 2026
