A319
Flight Attendant Current
Physiological - Other
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor
Flight Crew Overcame Equipment Problem; General Flight Cancelled / Delayed; General Maintenance Action; General Work Refused
Aircraft
Prior to boarding; the number 3 Flight Attendant stated she did not feel the aircraft smelled right; and at that time; I noticed a smell but nothing extreme until 10 min later when the odor got really intense. I contacted the Captain and told him something is wrong that we could not board due to the odor. The Captain contacted the Agent and then Maintenance was called. The fight attendants had to leave the aircraft cause the odor was so intense and eventually left the jetway and went to the boarding area since the odor was coming into the jetway bridge area.Maintenance stated that the aircraft had a history of this problem with the APU vent flap. I think many aircraft are being patched up instead of really fixing the issues. Unfortunately; it causes harm and injury to the flight crews and passengers. In this instance; the flight attendants were caused to be ill.
A319 Captain reported flight attendant notification of intense odor in cabin prior to boarding.