First-Line Supervisors of Passenger Attendants
53-1044.00
Updated 2026

Supervise and coordinate activities of passenger attendants.

Sample of reported job titles: On Car Supervisor, Transit Service Supervisor, Transportation Supervisor

Occupation-Specific Information

Tasks

  • Enforce safety rules and regulations.
  • Resolve customer complaints regarding worker performance or services rendered.
  • Inspect materials, stock, vehicles, equipment, or facilities to ensure that they are safe, free of defects, and consistent with specifications.
  • Train workers in proper operational procedures and functions and explain company policies.
  • Compute or estimate cash, payroll, transportation, or personnel requirements.
  • Inspect work areas or operating equipment to ensure conformance to established standards in areas such as cleanliness or maintenance.
  • Recommend and implement measures to improve worker motivation, work methods, or customer services.
  • Meet with managers or other supervisors to stay informed of changes affecting operations.
  • Inform workers about interests or special needs of specific groups.
  • Observe and evaluate workers' appearance and performance to ensure quality service and compliance with specifications.
  • Explain and demonstrate work tasks to new workers or assign training tasks to experienced workers.
  • Take disciplinary action to address performance problems.
  • Analyze and record personnel or operational data and write related activity reports.
  • Confer with customers, supervisors, contractors, or other personnel to exchange information or to resolve problems.
  • Apply customer feedback to service improvement efforts.
  • Participate in continuing education to stay abreast of industry trends and developments.
  • Requisition necessary supplies, equipment, or services.
  • Direct or coordinate the activities of workers, such as flight or car attendants.
  • Recruit and hire staff members.
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Occupational Requirements

Work Activities

  • Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
  • Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials — Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.
  • Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates — Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
  • Making Decisions and Solving Problems — Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
  • Coaching and Developing Others — Identifying the developmental needs of others and coaching, mentoring, or otherwise helping others to improve their knowledge or skills.
  • Developing and Building Teams — Encouraging and building mutual trust, respect, and cooperation among team members.
  • Performing for or Working Directly with the Public — Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.
  • Guiding, Directing, and Motivating Subordinates — Providing guidance and direction to subordinates, including setting performance standards and monitoring performance.
  • Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings — Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.
  • Training and Teaching Others — Identifying the educational needs of others, developing formal educational or training programs or classes, and teaching or instructing others.
  • Documenting/Recording Information — Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.
  • Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events — Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
  • Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others — Handling complaints, settling disputes, and resolving grievances and conflicts, or otherwise negotiating with others.
  • Scheduling Work and Activities — Scheduling events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others.
  • Working with Computers — Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.
  • Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards — Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
  • Judging the Qualities of Objects, Services, or People — Assessing the value, importance, or quality of things or people.
  • Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment — Running, maneuvering, navigating, or driving vehicles or mechanized equipment, such as forklifts, passenger vehicles, aircraft, or watercraft.
  • Staffing Organizational Units — Recruiting, interviewing, selecting, hiring, and promoting employees in an organization.
  • Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge — Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
  • Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others — Translating or explaining what information means and how it can be used.
  • Coordinating the Work and Activities of Others — Getting members of a group to work together to accomplish tasks.
  • Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships — Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
  • Performing Administrative Activities — Performing day-to-day administrative tasks such as maintaining information files and processing paperwork.
  • Assisting and Caring for Others — Providing personal assistance, medical attention, emotional support, or other personal care to others such as coworkers, customers, or patients.
  • Communicating with People Outside the Organization — Communicating with people outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail.
  • Processing Information — Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or verifying information or data.
  • Providing Consultation and Advice to Others — Providing guidance and expert advice to management or other groups on technical, systems-, or process-related topics.
  • Developing Objectives and Strategies — Establishing long-range objectives and specifying the strategies and actions to achieve them.
  • Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work — Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.
  • Thinking Creatively — Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions.
  • Performing General Physical Activities — Performing general physical activities includes doing activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling materials.
  • Analyzing Data or Information — Identifying the underlying principles, reasons, or facts of information by breaking down information or data into separate parts.
  • Estimating the Quantifiable Characteristics of Products, Events, or Information — Estimating sizes, distances, and quantities; or determining time, costs, resources, or materials needed to perform a work activity.
  • Controlling Machines and Processes — Using either control mechanisms or direct physical activity to operate machines or processes (not including computers or vehicles).
  • Monitoring and Controlling Resources — Monitoring and controlling resources and overseeing the spending of money.
  • Drafting, Laying Out, and Specifying Technical Devices, Parts, and Equipment — Providing documentation, detailed instructions, drawings, or specifications to tell others about how devices, parts, equipment, or structures are to be fabricated, constructed, assembled, modified, maintained, or used.
  • Repairing and Maintaining Mechanical Equipment — Servicing, repairing, adjusting, and testing machines, devices, moving parts, and equipment that operate primarily on the basis of mechanical (not electronic) principles.

Detailed Work Activities

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Work Context

  • Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team — 99% responded “Extremely important.”
  • E-Mail — 97% responded “Every day.”
  • Deal With External Customers or the Public in General — 76% responded “Extremely important.”
  • Work Outcomes and Results of Other Workers — 77% responded “Very high responsibility.”
  • Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams — 82% responded “Every day.”
  • Importance of Being Exact or Accurate — 73% responded “Extremely important.”
  • Contact With Others — 66% responded “Constant contact with others.”
  • Telephone Conversations — 91% responded “Every day.”
  • Coordinate or Lead Others in Accomplishing Work Activities — 24% responded “Very important.”
  • Consequence of Error — 60% responded “Extremely serious.”
  • Health and Safety of Other Workers — 68% responded “Very high responsibility.”
  • Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results — 65% responded “Very important results.”
  • Exposed to Sounds, Noise Levels that are Distracting or Uncomfortable — 58% responded “Every day.”
  • Freedom to Make Decisions — 38% responded “Some freedom.”
  • Importance of Repeating Same Tasks — 45% responded “Extremely important.”
  • Outdoors, Exposed to All Weather Conditions
  • Determine Tasks, Priorities and Goals — 68% responded “Some freedom.”
  • Time Pressure — 13% responded “Once a month or more but not every week.”
  • Frequency of Decision Making — 64% responded “Every day.”
  • Duration of Typical Work Week — 59% responded “40 hours.”
  • In an Enclosed Vehicle or Operate Enclosed Equipment — 28% responded “Once a week or more but not every day.”
  • Indoors, Environmentally Controlled — 68% responded “Every day.”
  • Spend Time Sitting — 36% responded “Continually or almost continually.”
  • Dealing With Unpleasant, Angry, or Discourteous People — 46% responded “Every day.”
  • Exposed to Very Hot or Cold Temperatures — 49% responded “Every day.”
  • Physical Proximity — 22% responded “Slightly close (e.g., shared office).”
  • Spend Time Making Repetitive Motions — 34% responded “Continually or almost continually.”
  • Conflict Situations — 32% responded “Every day.”
  • Spend Time Using Your Hands to Handle, Control, or Feel Objects, Tools, or Controls — 33% responded “Continually or almost continually.”
  • Spend Time Walking or Running — 31% responded “Less than half the time.”
  • Exposed to Contaminants — 47% responded “Every day.”
  • Written Letters and Memos — 30% responded “Once a month or more but not every week.”
  • Exposed to Extremely Bright or Inadequate Lighting Conditions — 39% responded “Never.”
  • Spend Time Standing — 26% responded “About half the time.”

Experience Requirements

Job Zone

Title
Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
Education
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Related Experience
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Job Training
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Job Zone Examples
These occupations usually involve using communication and organizational skills to coordinate, supervise, manage, or train others to accomplish goals. Examples include hydroelectric production managers, desktop publishers, electricians, agricultural technicians, barbers, court reporters and simultaneous captioners, and medical assistants.
SVP Range
(6.0 to < 7.0)

Training & Credentials

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Certifications
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State licenses

Apprenticeship Opportunities

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Worker Requirements

Software Skills

Hot Technologies are requirements most frequently included across all employer job postings.
In Demand skills are frequently included in employer job postings for this occupation.

Essential Skills

  • Active Listening — Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
  • Speaking — Talking to others to convey information effectively.
  • Critical Thinking — Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
  • Reading Comprehension — Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
  • Active Learning — Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
  • Monitoring — Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
  • Writing — Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
  • Learning Strategies — Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.

Transferable Skills

  • Service Orientation — Actively looking for ways to help people.
  • Coordination — Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
  • Instructing — Teaching others how to do something.
  • Judgment and Decision Making — Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
  • Management of Personnel Resources — Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
  • Negotiation — Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
  • Persuasion — Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
  • Social Perceptiveness — Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
  • Time Management — Managing one's own time and the time of others.
  • Complex Problem Solving — Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
  • Systems Analysis — Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
  • Systems Evaluation — Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.

Knowledge

  • Transportation — Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
  • Public Safety and Security — Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
  • Customer and Personal Service — Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
  • Administration and Management — Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
  • English Language — Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
  • Personnel and Human Resources — Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
  • Administrative — Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
  • Psychology — Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
  • Education and Training — Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
  • Computers and Electronics — Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
  • Telecommunications — Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
  • Communications and Media — Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
  • Geography — Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
  • Law and Government — Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.

Education

How much education does a new hire need to perform a job in this occupation? Respondents said:

  • 33%
     
    High school diploma or equivalent required
  • 28%
     
    Some college, no degree required
  • 14%
     
    Post-secondary certificate required

Worker Characteristics

Abilities

  • Speech Clarity — The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
  • Oral Comprehension — The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Oral Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Problem Sensitivity — The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
  • Speech Recognition — The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
  • Written Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
  • Deductive Reasoning — The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
  • Inductive Reasoning — The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
  • Information Ordering — The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
  • Near Vision — The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
  • Written Comprehension — The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Fluency of Ideas — The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
  • Originality — The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
  • Category Flexibility — The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
  • Far Vision — The ability to see details at a distance.
  • Flexibility of Closure — The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
  • Selective Attention — The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
  • Auditory Attention — The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.

Interests

Interest code: ECS
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  • Enterprising — Work involves managing, negotiating, marketing, or selling, typically in a business setting, or leading or advising people in political and legal situations. Enterprising occupations are often associated with business initiatives, sales, marketing/advertising, finance, management/administration, professional advising, public speaking, politics, or law.
    • Management/Administration — Work involves planning, directing, or coordinating the daily operations of an organization, and overseeing personnel, business, or administrative services.
  • Conventional — Work involves following procedures and regulations to organize information or data, typically in a business setting. Conventional occupations are often associated with office work, accounting, mathematics/statistics, information technology, finance, or human resources.
    • Human Resources — Work involves recruiting, selecting, and training job applicants, maintaining employee personnel records, administering compensation and employee-benefit programs, and conducting employee performance reviews.
  • Social — Work involves helping, teaching, advising, assisting, or providing service to others. Social occupations are often associated with social, health care, personal service, teaching/education, or religious activities.
    • Personal Service — Work involves providing personal services to individuals in need of non-medical assistance such as helping arrange or plan for travel, meals, or events.
    • Human Resources — Work involves recruiting, selecting, and training job applicants, maintaining employee personnel records, administering compensation and employee-benefit programs, and conducting employee performance reviews.

Work Styles

  • Leadership Orientation — A tendency to lead, take charge, offer opinions, and provide direction at work.
  • Social Orientation — A tendency to seek out, enjoy, and be energized by social interaction at work.
  • Cooperation — A tendency to be pleasant, helpful, and willing to assist others at work.
  • Dependability — A tendency to be reliable, responsible, and consistent in meeting work-related obligations.

Workforce Characteristics

Wages & Employment Trends

Median wage data for First-Line Supervisors of Transportation and Material Moving Workers, Except Aircraft Cargo Handling Supervisors.
Employment data for First-Line Supervisors of Transportation and Material Moving Workers, Except Aircraft Cargo Handling Supervisors.
Industry data for First-Line Supervisors of Transportation and Material Moving Workers, Except Aircraft Cargo Handling Supervisors.
Median wages (2025)
$30.23 hourly, $62,890 annual
State wages
Local wages
Employment (2025)
621,500 employees
Projected growth (2025-2035)
Average (3% to 4%)
Projected job openings (2025-2035)
54,900
State trends
Top industries (2025)

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics 2025 wage data and 2025-2035 employment projections . “Projected growth” represents the estimated change in total employment over the projections period (2025-2035). “Projected job openings” represent openings due to growth and replacement.

Job Openings on the Web

State job openings
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More Information

Professional Associations

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