Carbon fiber composite material is an important material for aircraft skin, and paint removal is the most important process before repainting the aircraft carbon fiber composite skin.Laser paint removal has the advantages of high efficiency, controllability, layering, and greenness, and is expected to become the main technical approach for removing paint from aircraft carbon fiber composite skin.It introduces the method and mechanism of laser layered controllable paint removal, summarizes the influence of process factors such as laser energy density, laser scanning speed, and laser overlap rate on the removal of aircraft carbon fiber composite skin coatings, proposes optimization ideas for laser layered controllable paint removal process, and summarizes the evaluation methods of laser paint removal effect.It lists the application of laser paint removal technology in the maintenance of surface coatings on aircraft composite materials, and looks forward to the development trend of laser paint removal technology for aircraft carbon fiber composite skin.