How to become a passenger attendant
Official title: Passenger attendant
Also called: Cabin attendant, Train ticket collector, Onboard hospitality attendant, Ship steward, Bus ticket inspector, Railway guard, Travel attendant
Passenger attendants provide services to passengers so they are safe and comfortable on ferries, buses, trains and at stations and terminals. They may collect tickets or fares from passengers.
Main tasks
- Make sure passengers are comfortable and safe
- Help passengers board buses, ferries and trains
- Collect and check tickets and fares
- Give travel and route information
- Follow vehicle safety rules
- Signal drivers when to move
- Move luggage and supplies
- Record travel details
How to become one
You usually learn on the job to become a passenger attendant and experience may be useful. You usually don’t need specific NCEA levels for this job. Required: to complete an on-the-job training course. Other requirements: to pass a medical assessment and drug test; a First Aid Certificate; experience in similar work.
Pay · Past change
- Most common pay: $58,000 to $88,000 a year (median $69,000), a TEC estimate before tax.
- Upper: $121,000 a year
- TEC shows pay for this job by the hour: median $33.17 an hour.
- TEC's pay figures are estimates only. TEC says they must not be used to set pay, in pay negotiations or in visa applications.
- Change in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses: Steady (TEC). This is past change, not a forecast.
Who does this work
- About 160 people did this job at the 2023 Census (TEC).
Related jobs
- Gambling manager
- Gambling surveillance officer
- Housekeeping supervisor
- Ticket collector and usher
- Amusement and recreation attendant
- Gambling cashier
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Questions people ask
How do I become a passenger attendant?
You usually learn on the job to become a passenger attendant and experience may be useful. You usually don’t need specific NCEA levels for this job. Required: to complete an on-the-job training course. Other requirements: to pass a medical assessment and drug test; a First Aid Certificate; experience in similar work.
How much does a passenger attendant earn in New Zealand?
The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $69,000 a year, before tax. Most common pay is $58,000 to $88,000 a year.
Has the number of people working as a passenger attendant grown in New Zealand?
It has held steady: TEC records the number of people doing this job as steady between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses. This is past change, not a forecast.
Sources
- Tertiary Education Commission (Tahatu Career Navigator): Tahatu career ideas: descriptions, tasks, pay estimates, people employed, employment change 2018 to 2023, entry requirements, registration, interest scores (Site scrape 2026-10 (816 career ideas, sitemap lastmod 2026-10-01)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
This content is sourced from the Tertiary Education Commission through the Tahatū Career Navigator website (www.tahatu.govt.nz) and used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. All or some of the information has been modified by Peernovo. TEC has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. TEC will not be held accountable for any errors within this content.
Qualification information from NZQA, used under CC BY 3.0 NZ.
This work is based on/includes Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Census data via Figure.NZ.
Includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
Sources: Tertiary Education Commission, Tahatū Career Navigator (career ideas, pay estimates, entry requirements and study options, CC BY 4.0, modified by Peernovo); Stats NZ, 2023 Census (via Figure.NZ) and the National Occupation List (CC BY 4.0); NZQA qualification information (CC BY 3.0 NZ); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Links between career ideas and ANZSCO groups, degree fields and broad job groups are Peernovo's.
These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.
Graduate outcomes: these results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.
Updated 4 October 2026