B747-400
Flight Attendant Current
Communication Breakdown; Time Pressure
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Company Policy; Procedure; Human Factors
Please ensure that passenger agents are well versed on fulfilling the FARs requiring confirmation with Lead Flight Attendant prior to door closure. On this flight they attempted to close the door without confirming to me that all FARs had been met. I managed to catch them half way through door closing and twice stated that they had not verified nor confirmed with me. Bins were still open and I had not gotten confirmation from crew as to whether exit row verifications had been done. It was prior to scheduled departure time and they were in a rush to close. There is so much pressure from the company to meet on time departures that I feel FARs are being compromised. Also; our crew found a lot of leftover items in the flight attendant bunk room cubby holes and cabinets from previous flights...a bottle of water in a First Class overhead bin; reading glasses in one flight attendant bunk; etc. A proper security sweep had not been done. Again; the company is in a rush and wants a quick turn around and is compromising safety and security [to do so].
A Lead Flight Attendant reported passenger agents are failing to comply with regulations requiring them to assure all FAR requirements for cabin preparation are completed before closing passenger boarding doors. The reporter cited pressure from the company for on-time departures as a contributing factor.