Confidential Human Factors
Incident Reporting Programme
The Charity
Aviation
Maritime
CC6878
Initial Report
I had a report time of HH:20 and at HH:15 the SCCM came to find me to ask if I was here. I said yes and they then said I hadn’t checked in yet and left. I still had 5 minutes to spare and it’s not fair to be pressured to sign in early so they can start their briefing earlier than scheduled. I have had this before from other SCCMs with pressure to start briefing early, but I think this comes from higher up with pressures to get the briefing done and to get onto the aircraft as soon as possible.
Company Comment
We contacted the operations team regarding the content of this report, and no communication has been passed on to SCCMs to start their briefing earlier. They simply cannot do so, as they are required to report at the time designated on their roster to comply with flight time limitations and flight duty period obligations. Crew are encouraged to follow the times on the briefing sheet, and being based in a large airport, this framework should be adhered to as much as possible. If crew are experiencing difficulties, we encourage them to report these, as this feedback will be used to inform the operations trends when we share insight to the trends we’ve identified.
CAA Comment
Cabin crew cannot be required to perform any duty or part of a duty at the behest of the operator or personnel employed by the operator outside of a duty or flying duty period. Cabin crew often arrive at the place of report early for a flight in order to allow time to prepare, however this by choice and cannot be required.
CHIRP Comment
‘Pressure’ remains one of the top-3 key issues reported to CHIRP. While it might be tempting to get a head start on the day, SCCMs should avoid asking crew to report earlier than scheduled, as this can contribute to feelings of pressure, known as perceived pressure, from the outset. That said, an SCCM asking if everyone is ready is typically just a courtesy, a polite way to get the ball rolling. Perhaps the day before, they’d had a crew member forget to sign in – distraction also being a common human factor.
Whilst some crew members snooze the alarm, rush out the door with a piece of toast, and just grab the final bus from the crew car park with a minute to spare, other crew members prefer to get to work early and have a coffee and breakfast before reporting. However you like to start your day, your report and your maximum FDP begin at the time stated on your roster (subject to delayed report etc). Be mindful not to arrive too early before your report start time; delays are common in aviation and a short duty can soon become a lot longer than anticipated.