B757-200
Situational Awareness; Communication Breakdown; Time Pressure
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown
General None Reported / Taken
Human Factors
[A gate] agent Supervisor entered the aircraft 11 minutes before the scheduled departure time and wanted to close the aircraft door. I explained that overhead bins were [still] open as the last of the passengers had just entered; and a long line in the aisle was still present. I told her that it was 11 minutes until scheduled departure. I had also informed the gate agents twice during boarding that oversized carry on baggage was entering the aircraft. The agent Supervisor stated that the cargo [bin] had already closed. I told her that we may still have bags to check due to [being] oversized. At that time a bag came to the [forward] galley that was obviously well larger than the bag sizer would allow. The agent Supervisor repeated that the cargo [bin] was closed. I told her we may have additional bags to check. I also told her not to close the aircraft entry door until I could get the overhead bins closed. As soon as I left the immediate area; the agent Supervisor told [another Flight Attendant] that they had to go and proceeded to close the entry door. The FAR for overhead bin was violated. The FAR for stacked luggage in the closet was violated since additional oversized bags were on the plane and the only option was to stack them in the forward closet. The aircraft entry door was closed 5 minutes before scheduled departure time. The event occurred because the agent Supervisor for this flight would not listen to the Purser! This is an ongoing occurrence at this station for this flight.
I was [on duty as a Flight Attendant] in back of aircraft during boarding assisting passengers and closing overhead bins; working my way forward. I then heard from another Flight Attendant that the boarding door had been closed by the agent before we had all the baggage stored and all overhead bins had been closed. To my best knowledge the agent was in a hurry and closed aircraft door before cabin was ready. The flight attendant in front of aircraft and entrance door is the only one who can deal with the agent because the other flight attendant is in the cabin doing their duties. I had no knowledge that the door had even been closed prematurely. I was closing bins as my duties required.
Contrary to policy and flight attendant direction; a gate agent closed the cabin door before the cabin was fully prepared.