Date: 201908
Local time of day: 1801-2400
Location: ZZZ.Airport, US
Light: Night
Aircraft: A320
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 121
Flight plan: IFR
Mission: Passenger
Flight phase: Parked
Aircraft component: APU
Component problem: Malfunctioning
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: Flight Attendant In Charge; Flight Attendant (On Duty)
Human factors: Physiological - Other
Anomaly: Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor
Detector: Person Flight Crew; Person Flight Attendant
When detected: In-flight; Pre-flight
Result: Aircraft Equipment Problem Dissipated; General Maintenance Action
Contributing factors: Aircraft
Primary problem: Aircraft

Narrative: While getting on Aircraft X for flight ZZZ- ZZZ1; I sense a very powerful fume/odor it was too overpowering that I stepped off. [I] told my Flight Attendant 3 to come and see and she got off the aircraft right away in agreement that it was a terrible smell and we could not stay on that plane. The cleaners came off complaining that they sprayed the entire aircraft 2 times and that the smell would not go away and they don't know what was the cause. I told them not to worry because it appears to be coming from the aircraft systems. Flight Attendant 3 and I arrived early to the aircraft; so we waited about 30 minutes until the flight crew arrived. They asked why we were on the jet bridge as they made their way on and immediately before answering; the Captain came off and said not to get on. The Flight Attendant 1 came shortly after and I told him right away to get on and get another opinion and the same reaction happened. The Tech Ops was called to verify the issues and agree that there was a terrible odor and that it was extremely strong. We were all told to deplane the aircraft and that they would need to perform checks and run the engines to figure out the cause. While waiting; Flight Attendant 3 and I realized that we got headaches immediately; not to the point of incapacitation but the physiological effects of the overwhelming odor in the cabin. After about an hour of test; the mechanics deemed it was the APU system on the aircraft. They MEL the APU and we boarded without incident. After the doors closed and we had to start up the engine; the remnants of the odor came out briefly enough to just to be noticed by the in-flight crew that was the same smell when we boarded the aircraft initially. The smell went away before takeoff and the flight went on normal.During the final descent while I was about to take my jumpseat; the same smell and odor came back to be noticed by all 3 crew members it was almost as if the smell traveled through the entire airplane. Smelling it from back to front and whilst hearing multiple outburst of customers coughing intermittently. I notified the flight deck once we arrived to ZZZ1.The new flight deck came on and we reported to them what happened during descent and they had to write up the system again and another engine/ APU test was performed before we could leave from ZZZ1 to ZZZ. Throughout the night; whilst no fumes or odor were noted; our throats started to itch and headaches continued but again not enough to be incapacitated from doing our jobs; but enough to feel the discomfort and realize somethings was not normal after the incident took place.No presence of the odor was noted on the return flight to ZZZ as stated before; however. upon landing in ZZZ and the deplaning started Flight Attendant 3 called the front to inform me to make an announcement to clear the aisle because a customer was complaining and having a medical issue her tongue was rolling to the back of her throat and her neck became very swollen. We got her off the plane within no time to receive medical attention we could not get any info about or from the customer due to the urgency of the situation but she stressed it's never happened to her when we asked what was going on.




Synopsis: A320 Flight Attendant reported a 'very powerful fume' during boarding; also noted by passengers; resulting in cabin crew experiencing health issues. After maintenance action; the fumes dissipated and returned during arrival at destination.