A321
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine
Situational Awareness; Human-Machine Interface; Confusion; Communication Breakdown; Training / Qualification; Troubleshooting; Distraction
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude; Deviation - Speed All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Inflight Event / Encounter CFTT / CFIT
Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance; Flight Crew Overcame Equipment Problem; Flight Crew Requested ATC Assistance / Clarification; Flight Crew Took Evasive Action
Weather; Software and Automation; Aircraft; Human Factors; Procedure
I knew it was going to be a struggle getting out of ZZZ with all passengers on board when I saw the take-off performance. At 40C the margin between PTOW (Planned Take-off Weight) and MTOW was 1100 lbs. My First Officer (FO) was terrific; but it was his first trip since IOE; he had 18 hours on the airplane at the start of the sequence; and had not flown prior to training for about 8 months. In addition; it was only my second time flying the ZZZZZ departure; which has three at or above altitudes on it; which is a new thing in ZZZ.  I live in ZZZ; and consequently fly out of there a great deal.  All previous RNAV departures used to have at or below altitudes on them (to keep clear of inbound aircraft); so it never used to be an issue worrying about making altitudes on the SID.  At the aircraft; I was already concerned about two things: brake temps and having to bump passengers.  I asked my FO to pull us up numbers for 41 and 42C; just in case it got hotter; as it was likely to. In addition; I believe the winds were swinging around - runway XXR had a tailwind component at one point; so I was also looking for numbers for XYL; but due to terrain; the only runway that worked at all was XXR.  I noticed that we would be unable to make the restrictions and asked the FO to ask for altitude relief on the SID as soon as he contacted ground.  In my experience; asking for altitude relief at other airports was never an issue; so I was not overly concerned. We pushed back; and naturally were over PTOW.  I asked the FO to request a new take-off performance for 41 and 42C.  We eventually landed on a Flaps 1 take-off performance requiring thrust bump which got us legal for takeoff.  All this occurred during the short taxi from the terminal to runway XXR.By the time we reached number 1 holding short of the runway; I realized we had forgotten to ask for the altitude relief on the SID. I asked the FO to do so as we were taking the runway.  The controller; upon hearing the request; told us to taxi clear and get a new clearance.  By this time there were 6-8 aircraft in a queue for takeoff; and our brake temps were over 150 degrees.  My main concern was that if we had to leave the runway; it would get too hot to accommodate the load; and by the time we taxied for another 30 minutes; the brakes would be too hot for takeoff.  So; glancing down at the FMS; which showed that we would miss the altitude restrictions by 5-700 feet; I knew that if we delayed cleanup; we could easily make those restrictions.  I told the controller that we could manage the departure; and he again cleared us for takeoff.  I told my FO that since we were at the max performance envelope of the airplane; he should rotate very gently.  As we were rolling down the runway; my attention was fixed on the EGT; as I had not done a bump takeoff before; and the engines were exactly on the edge of the red.  He did as I asked; and as a result; we were very fast on the initial climb segment.  As we climbed out; I was fixated on the altitude.  Once it became clear that the 5;000 ft altitude (I think around 4;500 feet MSL) I relaxed a bit and told him we could clean up.  He set climb power (which was a much greater reduction than normal due to the thrust bump) and I reached for the flap lever and set flaps up.  At this time we were still wings level.  I was so fixated on the altitude; and our airspeed shortly after takeoff was so much higher than usual that I didn't take a good look at the airspeed indicator.  I believe that I retracted the flaps very early. VLS (lowest selectable speed) jumped by perhaps 40 knots; and we ended up about 20 knots below VLS.  Naturally; we were now facing rapidly rising terrain; and the SID commanded a right turn.  My FO started to turn; and now instead of being below VLS; we were in alpha floor.  I instructed my FO to lower the nose; but it wasn't happening quickly enough; so I grabbed the side stick and pushed the nose over; at the same time requesting him to let go.  There was a momentary DUAL INPUT" annunciation and a momentary noticeable low speed buffet which lasted perhaps a second.  We lost perhaps 300 feet of altitude as I got the airspeed back.  We were able to make all of the altitude restrictions and I don't believe there were any deviations from the SID.  Once we recovered; the only other item remaining was how to get the auto throttles out of alpha floor.  Eventually; we turned them off (match and mash) and back on again and that got the system back to normal.I was using my knowledge of past experience flying the old SIDs.  They didn't have airspeed or at or above altitudes; and my experience in the past that asking for altitude relief on a SID was not a big deal.  In addition; I was flying with a brand new (very sharp) but inexperienced FO; who was relying entirely on my experience.  I was also pushing to accommodate the load without having to remove passengers and/or cargo; and was worried about the brake temp issues; causing me to push to get off the ground as soon as possible.I made several errors.  The first one was not notifying clearance delivery early of our inability to make the altitude and/or airspeed restrictions on the SID.  In the past; ZZZ used to have a procedure for A321 aircraft to delay climb power/flap retraction to 3;000 AGL.  I think if we had used that procedure; we probably would have been able to make the altitude and speed restrictions on the SID.  That procedure is gone.  Second; when we finally did request relief on the SID (by this time we were on the runway) and the controller told us to clear the runway and get a new clearance; I should have done so; even if it had caused us further problems with brake temp and/or takeoff weight.  Third; having taken the decision to take off because I was certain we could delay cleanup; thus making us legal for the SID; I should have taken over flying duties.  This would have alleviated my FO's task saturation; as I was far more experienced in the airplane.  This would still have been sub-optimal; but I am confident the takeoff would have been uneventful.   Fourth; once I retracted the flaps and we were below VLS; I should have put the flaps back to Config 1.  So; there were many errors on my part; but an early intervention with clearance delivery would have solved everything.  I believe there should be a warning to the A320 Fleet about the new SIDS; and that at high temperatures careful note should be taken of the danger of not being able to make altitude restrictions on any SID with at or above altitudes; especially early in the SID; and that relief should be requested at the gate with clearance delivery. Also to note: green dot speed (min maneuver) was 245 with flaps up; so the only way to maintain 230 knot speed at ZZZZZ waypoint is at config 1.  Again; the old requirement to clean up at 3000 AGL would have solved this."
A321 Captain reported confusion during a Bump Thrust takeoff which resulted in the aircraft entering Alpha Floor; requiring the Captain to assume control and descend 300 additional feet to recover airspeed.