Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Communication Breakdown; Situational Awareness; Time Pressure; Training / Qualification; Workload; Distraction
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Other / Unknown
Flight Crew Became Reoriented
Human Factors; Procedure; Company Policy
We are constantly being interrupted during checklists; pilot to pilot briefings; while talking to clearance delivery etc. According to many of the new flight attendants they are being taught in the flight attendant training center to ask the captain for each and every thing that they may need or want. On many occasions the flight attendants board; conduct a safety check and then sit in first class and proceed to give me a verbal request for the several cabin items that they may want. On occasion; I have asked the Lead flight attendant gently and nicely if she could please request her extra ice cubes; cold cups; head sets; toilet paper and cocktail napkins via the jetway phone as we are busy with a maintenance issue; weight restriction issue; weather; routing issue etc.  On each occasion I was met with great resistance. I was told that they are unfamiliar with the jetway phone or any other method of requesting said items. Usually boarding has not yet started and the flight attendants may use the jetway phone and/or speak to an agent as I do. Many times I just simply walk up to the top of the jetway and make this request with the agents. Usually this is for the missing agriculture forms or the necessary custom forms for international flights. I am aware of this need after my flight attendant briefing when I try to confirm that these forms are on board. These requests may seem simple at first glance. However; this starts a new stream of interruptions as the flight attendants will continue to come to the flight deck and alert us to the status of the many requests. They will either report the delivery of said items and/or ask about the status of others. The other part of this new status quo that may not be readily apparent is the inherent problem with the request. For example: How many cold cups do you need? What kind of headsets? First class or economy? How many? How many napkins? What kind? So now if I decide to just try to accommodate such requests; a plethora of issues arise as quite frankly I do not know what a 'cold cup' is exactly. So what may seem as a one minute distraction can lead to many more questions; more phone calls and more follow ups. With our new shorter show times; when exactly can I do my pilot duties? May I say that we pushed late because I was busy calling for cold cups? As we all know; interruptions and distractions lead to mistakes. I have seen many first officers miss many items on the set up. For example: They miss that the window heat that was off when it should have been on for a through flight. They miss the changes on the departure clearance (different SID; routing and/or altitude). Captains are forgetting the fuel sheet when fueling is late because they are distracted. I have had several first officers ask me if we could close the cockpit door for a while so they could be uninterrupted for their setup. This is especially true when in Mexico and we must get our departure clearance via voice. I see that CRM is now included in the flight attendant manual. Are the flight attendants being taught the ramifications of said distractions and interruptions? Do they know that a simple shout into the flight deck during a checklist or clearance read back may lead to an incident or accident? Have they seen the Tenerife accident video? Or the like?To summarize; the pilots are distracted by the plethora of interruptions. The interruptions are harsh and preclude the opportunity to stop at an appropriate point. The pilots are being tasked to perform duties outside the realm of pilot duties because of the interruptions; the pilots feel rushed and are making mistakes. This is a general report and not specific to this crew.
A B737 Captain reported pilot preflight distractions; interruptions; and task loads resulting from the company's current Flight Attendant training policy to include the crew in more of the cabin activities; needs; and wants.