A320
Flight Attendant Current
Communication Breakdown; Fatigue
Other Fatigue
General None Reported / Taken
Human Factors; Company Policy; Staffing
As detailed below; all passenger's; as well as the cabin crew's; safety was jeopardized for the above listed flight. Due to the increasing delays and constant phone call disturbances; we were not able to get adequate rest (actually none) before working the modified pairing; which you will find at the end of this email. I called the Captain in the hotel; who was unaware of the delays. He was never notified. Actually; I initiated the first call to Crew Scheduling to have our show time adjusted. After this time; the Captain made all calls to the Scheduling Department. Due to the constant changes in departure; calls from the Captain with updates; changing van times with the local transportation company; my contacting the others with the Captain's updates; none of us were able to get any sleep from the time we got up that morning; until after our arrival in our base at sunrise the following day; at which point I had been awake for over 24 hours. The Crew Scheduling Department called me the evening before and I was told to call In-flight about the Captain's and our concern about not feeling safe to do our second flight due to fatigue; not being alert/aware; having the responsibility for the SAFETY of our passengers. The Captain called the In-flight Operations Department and spoke to a supervisor; who told him she understood/agreed with the situation; however she could do nothing about it. The Captain was adamant each time he spoke to Crew Scheduling about the flight attendants not being fit to continue our trip. He continued to call about the matter while on the way to the airport; by ACARS during flight; to which the Company's response was; 'flight attendants are expected to continue as scheduled; to contact In-flight upon arrival.' Upon arrival he received a message; no In-flight supervisor on duty at airport. I tried to call In-flight- no response. I spoke with a supervisor in Crew Scheduling; who told me he could find no replacements for the cabin crew; implying we were to continue to our crew base even though I voiced our concern about fatigue. The Captain was released at the intermediate station since he was not safe to continue; so why were the flight attendants not released? What made us safe to fly if he and we were all lacking the same rest? I realize on paper that we were well within the duty limitations of our union and FAA regulations; however; the situation of not being able to rest before working the flights was not taken into consideration when we and the Captain repeatedly voiced our concerns about the large responsibility we have while operating a flight. In conclusion; why does the PIC have the ultimate decision about the safety and security of his/ her passengers and crew; if this decision is totally disregarded?
A Flight Attendant describes hotel sleep interruptions; flight delays and a duty time combination preventing sleep for nearly 24 hours during which time the pilots were released due to fatigue but not the flight attendants.