Commercial Fixed Wing
Flight Attendant Current
Situational Awareness; Workload
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Other / Unknown; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Other / Unknown
General None Reported / Taken
Company Policy
We were staffed with five working crew. I assisted the boarding process in economy alone. Concerns for any safety issues or medical issues that might arise would deem staffing/cabin coverage for economy on boarding to be inadequate. One flight attendant to cover 114 economy passengers boarding. I was unable to pick up the phone in aft jumpseat area due to passengers and bags. Should any customer concerns; a medical emergency arise or a safety issue arises during a 'normal' passenger boarding; one flight attendant would be entirely insufficient to manage it. There was one flight attendant greeting at Door 2L; two flight attendants working forward and aft business class and our Purser was covering the forward cabins; pilot briefing; etc. I was alone in economy. Sometimes these flights are staffed with 6; which is adequate. More often; however; these aircraft are staffed with four or five depending on configuration; which is inadequate for safety. It is my utmosts concern that one person for 114 passengers during the boarding process is unsafe in light of current safety alerts/concerns in the news. Several other crew members; including those on my flight have also expressed concerns over inadequate staffing for safety reasons.
A flight attendant expressed concern over the company's willingness to routinely under staff; frequently leaving the boarding tasks for the entire economy section (as many as 114 people) to a single flight attendant.