Ground Steward/ground Stewardess
Key facts
Ground stewards/ground stewardesses assist rail passengers before they board. They check in passengers and also perform customer service duties such as booking train tickets and helping passengers to apply for refunds after a delay or cancellation.
Ground stewards/ground stewardesses play a vital role in the rail travel experience. You'll be based at train stations, assisting passengers before they board. Your day involves a mix of customer service, administrative tasks, and problem-solving, all focused on ensuring passengers have a comfortable and efficient travel experience. This is a skilled and technical role requiring attention to detail and excellent communication skills.
- • Checking in passengers and issuing tickets.
- • Providing information about train schedules, routes, and platform locations.
- • Assisting passengers with booking train tickets and making changes to existing reservations.
Where this occupation is in demand
Reported labour shortages and surpluses, by year. Published for occupation groups, not for individual job titles.
Figures cover Customer services clerks — 37 jobs including this one.
In shortage: Belgium, Greece, Italy, Netherlands and 1 more.
Longest-running shortage: Belgium, 3 years.
Select a place on the map to see its figures.
About this source›
Source: ELA/EURES labour shortages and surpluses. Readings are published at occupation-group level, and cover Europe. Editions differ in annex layout and country coverage, so a change between years does not always mean the labour market changed. Countries in grey were not reported, which is not the same as being in balance.
What these words mean
The four things this section reports
- Reported demand
- Whether employers report needing people in this job — a judgement published by a national or EU body, not a count.
- Where it is heading
- Which way employment in this job is expected to move over the coming years, from an official projection.
- Openings
- Roughly how many openings arise — from growth and from people leaving the job.
- Typical pay
- What people in this job typically earn where the source publishes it. Blank does not mean unpaid; it means nobody publishes it for that place.
A measure is left out when nobody publishes it for that place, rather than shown as zero.
Which way the market leans for you
- In your favour
- More openings than people looking — employers are competing for candidates.
- Balanced
- Openings and candidates are roughly matched.
- Competitive
- More people looking than openings — expect to compete.
- Mixed evidence
- Sources disagree, or the same occupation group is short in one part and oversupplied in another.
Every source resolves to one of these four, so there is a single vocabulary to learn. What differs is the evidence behind it, which is printed underneath each verdict — a measured ratio of openings to jobseekers, or an assessment published by a national body.
How this job compares with other jobs in the same country
- Strong
- Among the strongest in that country
- Good
- Stronger than most jobs in that country
- Mixed
- About typical for that country
- Weak
- Weaker than most jobs in that country
This is a rank within one country, not a score you can carry across borders — the registers behind two countries count different people, so the same number means different things in each. It is also why a job can be among the strongest in a country and still show as Competitive: it leads the field in a market that is crowded overall.
Where these come from
Every figure is published by a national statistics office, a public employment service or an EU body, and each card names its source and the period it covers. Some places are counted monthly, others assessed once or twice a year, so two places on the same map can be describing different moments — the date is always shown.
None of this predicts one person’s chances. It describes a market.
Reported demand · Typical pay · Where it is heading (United States, Ireland, Australia, Malta, United Kingdom)
| Reported demand | Typical pay | Where it is heading | |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Not reported | $37,720 2025-05 | +4.7% 2024–2034 · BLS 2024-2034 |
| Ireland | Not reported | — | −19.4% 2023–2035 · Cedefop 2026 * |
| Australia | Shortage reported Jobs and Skills Australia 2025 * | — | — |
| Malta | Shortage reported ELA/EURES 2024 * | — | — |
| United Kingdom | Not reported | £26,426 2025-provisional | — |
* Published for occupation groups, not for individual job titles.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS)
Source: Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Open Government Licence v3.0
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Future Outlook for ground steward/ground stewardess
The outlook for ground steward/ground stewardess is exceptionally stable. While AI tools will assist with daily tasks, the core of this role relies on human judgment, resulting in a high resilience score of 78%.
How are these scores calculated?
The Resilience Score (0–100) estimates how structurally protected this occupation is from automation and AI disruption, based on task-level analysis. Higher scores mean more human-judgment-intensive tasks. AI Exposure shows the estimated percentage of task hours that current AI capabilities could affect. These are model-derived structural indicators, not predictions about individual job security.
How could ground steward/ground stewardess change as AI adoption grows?
Human judgement, trust, and context remain strong protectors for this role.
Illustrative scenario based on task automatability — not a forecast. Values are rounded the further ahead you look.
Human judgement, trust, and context remain strong protectors for this role.
Illustrative scenario based on task automatability — not a forecast. Values are rounded the further ahead you look.
Model-based estimate. Use it as a planning signal, not a guarantee.
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How AI may change this role
Deterministic, model-based interpretation of current role signals — not a guarantee of replacement.
What still depends on people
- manage the customer experience
- check in passengers
- assist passengers
Where AI may become a co-pilot
- check in luggage
Tasks most exposed to automation
No single task here is highly automatable yet.
Vital Signs & AI Vectors
AI Exposure Vectors
0-100%Exposure to content generation, creative augmentation, and large language model tools
Exposure to workflow automation, decision-support software, and process digitisation
Exposure to AI-assisted analysis, pattern recognition, and predictive modelling tasks
Exposure to physical automation, robotics, and sensor-driven task displacement
Technical Details
NexFuture v3.0 estimates automation exposure natively from ESCO essential-skill groups, weighted by skill mass and calibrated against expert anchors. Scores are probabilistic estimates, not guarantees. See the NexFuture Methodology White Paper for full details.
Measures automation exposure. It does not measure pay, demand, or how many jobs exist near you.
What people in this role usually do
Management & Entrepreneurship
A typical day as a ground steward/ground stewardess
09 09:00 · Morning check in luggage
10 10:30 · Mid-morning check in passengers
12 12:00 · Midday assist passengers
14 14:00 · Afternoon tolerate stress
15 15:30 · Late afternoon communicate with customers
17 17:00 · Wrap-up maintain customer service
Task order is illustrative. Individual days vary.
What you need to do this work
The skills, knowledge and tools this role calls for — and the traits and rewards that come with it.
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manage the customer experience
Monitor, create and oversee customer experience and perception of brand and service. Ensure pleasant customer experience, treat customers in a cordial and courteous manner.
-
assist passengers
Provide help to people getting in and out of their car or any other transportation vehicle, by opening doors, provide physical support or hold belongings. Keep safety measures and procedures in mind.
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communicate with customers
Respond to and communicate with customers in the most efficient and appropriate manner to enable them to access the desired products or services, or any other help they may require.
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check in luggage
Weigh luggage to ensure it does not exceed the weight limit. Attach tags to bags and place them on the luggage belt.
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check in passengers
Compare passenger identity documents with the information in the system. Print boarding passes and direct passengers to the correct boarding gate.
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maintain customer service
Keep the highest possible customer service and make sure that the customer service is at all times performed in a professional way. Help customers or participants feel at ease and support special requirements.
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tolerate stress
Maintain a temperate mental state and effective performance under pressure or adverse circumstances.
air transport law
The rules and regulations governing air transport, including international law.
customer service
Processes and principles related to the customer, client, service user and to personal services; these may include procedures to evaluate customer's or service user's satisfaction.
Path to become a ground steward/ground stewardess
What it typically takes to qualify: education level, where it is a regulated profession, and where to study.
Primary education
46 programmes in 14 countries teach the core skills of this job. Plus 147 short courses that build single skills.
A few examples, taught in the language of this page:
These are 3 of 193.
Sources
- 1. Source: South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA), All Qualifications and Unit Standards (allqs.saqa.org.za).
- 2. Source: Malta Qualifications Registry, Malta Further and Higher Education Authority (qualifications.mfhea.gov.mt).
- 3. Contains information from MySkillsFuture Course Run accessed on 2026-09-28 from data.gov.sg which is made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0 (https://data.gov.sg/open-data-licence)
Growth Pathways & Similar Roles
Explore typical career progression paths, adjacent skills, and similar roles to plan your next transition.
Where does ground steward/ground stewardess fit?
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Similarity scores based on skill overlap from ESCO data.
For organisations
The data on this page, working for your students, clients and staff.
Frequently asked questions
What skills are particularly important for a ground steward/ground stewardess?
Is there a typical career progression for ground stewards/ground stewardesses?
What does 'employment' as the work arrangement mean for this role?
Is there a shortage of Ground Steward/Ground Stewardess in Europe?
How much does Ground Steward/Ground Stewardess pay in the United States?
Sources: ESCO O*NET ELA/EURES Cedefop BLS Data updated October 3, 2026 About our data