Passenger Attendants
Also called: Airport Attendant, Attendant, Bus Aide, Bus Assistant, Bus Attendant, Bus Monitor, Cabin Attendant, Chair Car Attendant
Provide services to ensure the safety of passengers aboard ships, buses, trains, or within the station or terminal.
What passenger attendants do
Typical tasks
- Perform equipment safety checks prior to departure.
- Explain and demonstrate safety procedures and safety equipment use.
- Signal transportation operators to stop or to proceed.
- Secure passengers for transportation by buckling seatbelts or fastening wheelchairs with tie-down straps.
- Respond to passengers' questions, requests, or complaints.
- Determine or facilitate seating arrangements.
- Open and close doors for passengers.
- Greet passengers boarding transportation equipment and announce routes and stops.
- Provide boarding assistance to elderly, sick, or injured people.
- Provide customers with information on routes, gates, prices, timetables, terminals, or concourses.
- Count and verify tickets and seat reservations and record numbers of passengers boarding and disembarking.
- Adjust window shades or seat cushions at the request of passengers.
Typical path into the job (BLS)
Passenger Attendants salary
The median annual wage for passenger attendants is $37,720 (BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, national). The lowest 10 percent earn less than $27,970 and the highest 10 percent earn more than $46,590. The mean annual wage is $37,820.
The mean hourly wage of $18.00 is 2.5× the federal minimum wage of $7.25. State minimums are higher in most large states. Minimum wage by state →
How does your pay compare with people your age?
Your numbers are not sent or stored. The comparison uses this occupation's BLS wage percentiles, adjusted for age with BLS median weekly earnings by age group (Q3 2026).
Pay by percentile
Annual wage percentiles from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). Percentiles are a good proxy for pay by experience.
Projected pay for Passenger Attendants (3, 5 and 10 years)est.
Today $37,720 → in 3 years $41,600 → in 5 years $44,400 → in 10 years $52,200 (10-year range $44,900–$60,600). The model assumes pay growth of +3.3% per year.
What drives the annual growth rate
Projected pay = current pay × (1 + annual growth)^years. The annual growth rate starts from a base wage-growth rate and adds or subtracts labor demand (BLS projected employment growth), wage momentum and AI replacement risk for each occupation. Projections are not guarantees. How it is calculated →
Outlook score for Passenger Attendants
Each component is a percentile rank among all occupations in the same country (0–100). Weights: labor demand 25, wage momentum / openings 15, pay level 15, AI resistance 25, aging workforce 10 (Japan only), entry barrier 10.
Will AI replace Passenger Attendants? AI replacement risk
How AI is changing this job
A written analysis for this occupation is being prepared.
AI replacement risk compares the parts of a job that are easy to hand to AI or software (processing information, documentation, repetitive computer work) with the parts that are hard to automate (physical work, working closely with people, judgment in unpredictable settings), using O*NET work activities, work context, skills and knowledge. The result is a relative position among all occupations in the country, scaled to 0–100%. Methodology →
Labor demand for Passenger Attendants
Employment projections are from the BLS Employment Projections program (2025–35). Annual openings include both new jobs and replacement of workers who leave the occupation.
Skills, education and requirements for Passenger Attendants
Key skills
O*NET skill level ratings (0–7).
Key knowledge areas
What the work involves
Important abilities
Training before entry
Related work experience
Job Zone 2 — some preparation needed (O*NET)
Difficulty of entry: ★☆☆☆☆ Easy to enter (from education, training, experience and Job Zone)
How to become passenger attendants
A step-by-step guide for this occupation is being prepared. The education, training and experience data above show the typical path.
Career path and how to earn more as passenger attendants
Career-path guidance is being prepared. Pay by percentile is shown in the Pay section.