The concern related to the perceived intimidation of cabin crew members during line readiness checks.
The reporter expressed a safety concern relating to the treatment of cabin crew members by cabin crew management and how this is affecting safety on the aircraft.
The reporter advised that recently cabin crew management have commenced a ‘line readiness check’ for cabin crew. This involves cabin crew members being tested before a flight and if they fail the testing, they will be stood down without pay and will have to travel to a training base for re-training. The crew member is not advised of the testing until they sign on for a particular duty. The cabin crew miss the crew briefing for the daily operation – joining the rest of the crew as they get to the aircraft.
The reporter has advised that the questions are often irrelevant to the cabin crew member’s duties. Examples include:
- ‘what is the document that pilots refer to in emergency‘
- ‘what is the acronym that refers to the briefing that pilots must give cabin crew following an emergency occurrence’
- ‘what colour is the button on new generation 737 that opens the lavatory galley mirror’
- ‘which primary position flight attendant checks that the headrest flaps are in correct position pre-flight on main cabin seating’
- ‘without referring to a dangerous goods manual, what dangerous goods category are lithium batteries’.
All this process is actually achieving is that the cabin crew are visibly upset and intimidated, and safety is compromised for that flight.
When questioned about this process, cabin crew management have responded that CASA requires them to conduct the testing this frequently and that CASA require cabin crew who fail to be stood down from their duties.
As part of its Safety Management System, we carry out Line Readiness Reviews (LRR). This procedure has been in place since 2009 and has been reviewed by CASA. To date almost 9,000 LRR have taken place.
LRR is a random process with an Instructor assigning the review based on a crew member’s duty start time, aircraft type and other duty considerations. The crew member receives notification of LRR when they sign on for a duty, with most LRR completed prior to the duty briefing. If the crew member misses any part of the duty briefing then documented procedures are in place to ensure that all important items are briefed individually.
Should a crew member not pass their LRR they are debriefed and a second attempt is offered. If the second attempt is not passed then that crew member is deemed not line ready and they are removed from duty. This procedure is documented for the cabin crew in their manuals.
Since its inception in 2009, LRR consisted of five questions made up of two Emergency Procedures (EP) questions, two Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) questions and one Cabin Standing Orders (CSO) question.
In May 2015 changes were made to LRR based on changes in technology, safety audit results and safety data reviews. LRR now consists of five questions made up of three SOP questions and two CSO questions. Should a crew member believe that the questions they have received during their LRR are inappropriate they are able to raise this with their instructor or their manager for review.
Since receiving the REPCON, we have completed a full review of the questions contained in the LRR questions database and are unable to identify any questions that resemble those as detailed by the reporter.
CASA has reviewed the REPCON and I am advised that the operator has implemented and documented Line Readiness Reviews (LRR) program parameters within their Cabin Crew Operations Manual which has been accepted by CASA. These internally imposed requirements are separate to those designated within the operator CASA approved manuals.
In response to the concerns raised by the report author, CASA has reviewed requisite documentation and conducted surveillance of LRRs and is satisfied that the operator:
- has initiated a program which satisfies the requirements of its Safety Management System;
- regularly reviews safety performance data and audit results responding accordingly;
- is compliant with documented standard operating procedures contained within its manual suite pertinent to cabin crew, which has been accepted by CASA;
- has documented and implemented the method by which cabin crew knowledge is measured against standard operating procedures contained within its manual suite and operational changes captured in Standing Orders; and
- has one of a number of programs in place, one of which is the LRR system, that contributes to the safe conduct of flight operations.
CASA has determined that there is no evidence of operator non-compliance, and is satisfied with the response provided to the ATSB.