Regional Jet 200 ER/LR (CRJ200)
Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Troubleshooting; Time Pressure; Communication Breakdown
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Illness / Injury
General None Reported / Taken
Weather; Procedure; Human Factors
I noticed before I left my house that the aircraft we were scheduled to fly had been sitting on the ground in ZZZ all day. The high temp was close to 100 degrees. Knowing this; I left a little early to make sure I could get to the aircraft early and ensure that it was cooled down before we began boarding. I got to the aircraft 62 minutes prior to our schedule push time. The aircraft was closed up; mobile bridge pulled and the vent flap on the main cabin door was opened. There was no external air hooked up. I proceeded to power up the aircraft and noted the cabin temp was reporting as 38 Celsius or 101 Fahrenheit. We had not yet been fueled; so I opted to start the APU to get air flowing and then made a call on the radio to Ops to get external air and AC connected in hopes it would happen before the fuel arrived and I would have to power down the APU. In the meantime; I personally walked through the cabin and opened each overhead gasper to maximize the airflow. Most of them were mostly or completely closed. About 5 minutes later; the fueler showed up; but there was still no external power or air connected. I told the fueler that I would prefer to wait until at least the external AC was hooked up since I had already 'set up' the aircraft FMS. As I was talking to the fueler; a ramp agent showed up; started the GPU and plugged in the cable. He then proceeded to walk to the gate next door. After getting back into the flight deck; I noticed that the external AC was not available. The same ramp agent was walking by the main cabin door at that point and I asked him to check the connection on the AC power as well as hook up the external air. He told me that he needed a lead to hook up the air; which was news to me. I called Ops again on the radio and requested a lead to hook up the air. About this time; the fueler had finished and I started up the APU again. Soon after; the gate agent came out to ask if we were ready to board. The FA (Flight Attendant) and I both agreed that the cabin was too warm to board right then; so we told them that we would wait and try to get the cabin a little cooler before we boarded. About 5 minutes prior to the normal boarding time (D-30); a ramp agent came up front and asked if we needed the external air hooked up. I told him that we had the APU running now and didn't need it anymore - note this was at least 30 minutes after I originally asked for air to be hooked up. Right at the regular boarding time (D-25); the cabin temp had shown a decreasing trend; down to 36 Celsius and the FA said she was comfortable boarding. We boarded up and pushed back on time. After arrival in ZZZ1 and walking to the van; the FA made a comment about how she 'shouldn't have done this' and that she had had trouble focusing and making her announcements because of the high cabin temperature. She made no mention of this to us until we were in ZZZ1. Flight Ops was asked multiple times to connect external air to help cool the cabin on an aircraft that was on the ground for nearly 10 hours in the sun and close to 100 degree temperatures. I was hoping that there would have been air hooked up at some point during that time period to help alleviate the heat issue in the cabin; of which the CRJ-200 is notorious for. While I felt that the cabin was noticeably cooler before we began to board; it was still fairly warm. I ultimately deferred to the FA as to whether or not she was comfortable boarding since she was the one that would be back there for the entirety of the flight. Maybe it was self-imposed pressure to try and get out on time or not cancel the flight that led her (and to a lesser extent; myself) to board before we should have. The FA did mention (multiple times) that she had picked up the trip so she could get to ZZZ2 the next morning from ZZZ.[I believe] there is no reason why an aircraft that is parked for 10 hours in high heat and direct sunlight is not hooked up to external air to cool the cabin. Even so; it shouldn't take 30 minutes to get someone out to the aircraft to hook it up after I call multiple times; especially after I advise them that we can't board until the cabin is cooled down. There really should be some kind of system in place for aircraft that are on the ground for an extended period to ensure that they are hooked up to external air at some point well prior to departure. On a day like this; I would think at least 90 minutes prior to departure would be prudent. In hindsight; I also could have coordinated with the regional controller and possibly swapped into a different aircraft.
CRJ Captain reported issues getting cabin cooled before boarding. A Flight Attendant suggested they boarded too early.