Date: 201811
Light: Night
Aircraft: Commercial Fixed Wing
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 121
Flight plan: IFR
Mission: Passenger
Flight phase: Cruise
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: Flight Attendant (On Duty)
Reporter qualification: Flight Attendant Current
Human factors: Situational Awareness; Communication Breakdown
Anomaly: Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence
Detector: Person Flight Crew
When detected: In-flight
Contributing factors: Human Factors
Primary problem: Human Factors

Narrative: No preflight weather briefing or general briefing conducted by Captain prior to boarding or departure. Captain failed to warn us of documented turbulence enroute [to] Oakland; failed to keep us seated throughout the flight; and Captain failed to keep us as safe as reasonably possible while performing our inflight responsibilities.Turbulence was both moderate and severe and lasted from the time we began drink service which we were unable to finish past one tray to the time we landed. It is inconceivable how the duration and severity of turbulence would not have been known to the Captain prior to flight. This is a heavily traveled route by both commercial and non-commercial air traffic and it is my understanding that turbulence of this nature should be included in the turbulence plots and weather briefings the Captain is required to obtain and share with his crew prior to departure.Secondly; were there no PIREPs indicating how severe and lengthy the frequency of turbulence was that evening? This is not the only time this has happened. In fact it occurs at [airline] every day practically. Captains in general almost never brief us on weather and when we ask if it will be okay to get up at 10;000 feet to begin service on short flights we are usually told yes. Then; we are bumped and rocked all over the place and never told to sit down until we are in the bad turbulence or the turbulence event has already occurred. We are not being given the weather briefings we deserve prior to flight and Captains are repeatedly not briefing us at all thus compromising our safety.In this particular instance; I woke up this morning with an aching back from the twisting and turning and jarring of my body during the turbulence. The Captain only communicated with us once the event was in full occurrence telling us to take our seats and to remain seated. We were not able to conduct any service beyond the one tray of drinks we in the back were able to distribute. The galley was a mess with spilled drinks everywhere and we were being thrown violently as we attempted to secure the galley.We were unable to collect garbage or secure the cabin for arrival due to the severity and duration of this event. Customers who purchased cocktails from me were never refunded their money because there was no way to do so safely. I ask why it is that the PIREPs of severe turbulence were not communicated to us by the Captain (as is all too often the norm); and why no preflight briefing was conducted by the Captain (also the norm at [airline]) . I also ask why it is we are required to serve drinks on very short flights and how that is considered safe. Some of our flights are barely 50 or 55 minutes block to block. We can't get up until 10;000 feet and must 1. Take drink orders 2. Pour the drinks 3. Balance trays with drinks on them and distribute them; then offer a snack service; conduct trash cleanup; offer seconds on drinks; again do a round of trash; and in addition restock the galleys on many flights. How is this safe?If you do the math the actual time we have to do all this is approximately 20 to 25 minutes and we are not allowed to simply do a water service. It appears safety of flight attendants is not a concern at [airline] as demonstrated by the overall lack of concern and failure of cockpit crews to brief us on matters paramount to our safety and managements disinterest in hearing how unsafe doing a full beverage service is on our shortest flights. When will you; the FAA; step up to the plate and hold our pilots responsible when they do not brief us even when there is an abundance of information available to us and when will you hold Management responsible for their unwillingness to deviate from unsafe practices?




Synopsis: Flight Attendant reported not being informed in a timely manner or at crew briefing about turbulence reported along the flight path.