Aviation Safety

The 1825 series is the Federal Aviation Administration’s inspector occupation, and it splits into specialties: operations inspectors come from the cockpit, airworthiness inspectors from maintenance and avionics, and manufacturing inspectors from production and quality work.

Recent listings have included general aviation operations inspectors, rotorcraft and helicopter inspectors, air carrier maintenance and avionics inspectors serving as assistant principal maintenance inspectors or partial program managers, a manufacturing inspector and a front-line manager over all specialties. Most are based at Flight Standards District Offices and certificate management offices around the country, and the FAA uses its own pay bands rather than GS grades.

Applying tip: 1825 announcements require specific aviation credentials and recent experience, such as pilot certificates and ratings for operations roles or a mechanic certificate for maintenance roles, and the announcement states the exact certificates, hours and recency it needs. List certificate numbers, ratings, aircraft types and dates on the first page. The application timeline guide explains what follows submission.