Narrative:

We pushed back in the alley and started both engines. I noticed a smell of jet exhaust; but it wasn't too bad in my mind. The smell dissipated by the time we began our taxi; maybe 2 minutes. We taxied to 10R following 2 airplanes; I got one whiff of exhaust as we moved forward. But; again; not bad or even worth mentioning to the first officer [first officer]. The first officer was PF pilot flying] and I was the pm [pilot monitoring]. We climbed to FL200; cruised for a few minutes and then descended via zzzzz arrival. Descending through about 12;000 feet we received a call from the flight attendant [flight attendant]. I answered the call. I can't remember which flight attendant called. She said 'I believe we had an air quality event'. I asked if everyone was ok and to describe her symptoms and what the odor was. She said the flight attendant's in the back seemed to feel worse with scratchy eyes; scratchy throat; and a slight headache. We were now passing through approximately 9000 feet. I asked if we needed to have any one meet them at the gate (medical wise). She said no; as the smell was gone and they weren't getting worse. I told them we'd be on the ground and at the gate in less than 15 minutes. They weren't sure what the odor was exactly; but when I asked if it [could] have been exhaust; she said that was what it most resembled; but was not sure. We landed and the first officer made sure to have maintenance meet us at the gate. As the customers were getting off the plane; I spoke with the mechanic and told him what happened. After everyone was off the plane the whole crew met up in the forward galley and we talked about the event. I asked about when they first smelled the odor. It was at cruise when they first smelled it and felt the symptoms. I asked the flight attendant's if they were ok and if they needed medical attention. They said no. We left the aircraft with the mechanics. I asked if he wanted me write up the odor; because I had not put anything in the logbook. He told me that he didn't need it in the book. The first officer and I debriefed the event and talked about it from start to finish. He also noticed the smell of exhaust; but didn't say anything because it happens from time to time. And the smell dissipated rather quickly. I wasn't sure where to file the report; I picked crew illness because I later found out that the 3 flight attendant's were taken off of their trip due to the air quality event. We were rushing to get to our next flight. We were at gate xx and were going to xy and had about 55 minutes to do so. I should have called a timeout and read the fom about air quality events. I should have written it up in the logbook and called the [duty officer]. Lesson learned - don't allow the tight schedules and plane swaps influence the task at hand.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A320 Captain reported Flight Attendant notification during initial descent of 'air quality event' in the cabin with Flight Attendants experiencing physiological symptoms .

Narrative: We pushed back in the alley and started both engines. I noticed a smell of jet exhaust; but it wasn't too bad in my mind. The smell dissipated by the time we began our taxi; maybe 2 minutes. We taxied to 10R following 2 airplanes; I got one whiff of exhaust as we moved forward. But; again; not bad or even worth mentioning to the FO [First Officer]. The FO was PF Pilot Flying] and I was the PM [Pilot Monitoring]. We climbed to FL200; cruised for a few minutes and then descended via ZZZZZ arrival. Descending through about 12;000 feet we received a call from the FA [Flight Attendant]. I answered the call. I can't remember which FA called. She said 'I believe we had an air quality event'. I asked if everyone was OK and to describe her symptoms and what the odor was. She said the FA's in the back seemed to feel worse with scratchy eyes; scratchy throat; and a slight headache. We were now passing through approximately 9000 feet. I asked if we needed to have any one meet them at the gate (medical wise). She said no; as the smell was gone and they weren't getting worse. I told them we'd be on the ground and at the gate in less than 15 minutes. They weren't sure what the odor was exactly; but when I asked if it [could] have been exhaust; she said that was what it most resembled; but was not sure. We landed and the FO made sure to have Maintenance meet us at the gate. As the customers were getting off the plane; I spoke with the mechanic and told him what happened. After everyone was off the plane the whole crew met up in the forward galley and we talked about the event. I asked about when they first smelled the odor. It was at cruise when they first smelled it and felt the symptoms. I asked the FA's if they were OK and if they needed medical attention. They said no. We left the aircraft with the mechanics. I asked if he wanted me write up the odor; because I had not put anything in the logbook. He told me that he didn't need it in the book. The FO and I debriefed the event and talked about it from start to finish. He also noticed the smell of exhaust; but didn't say anything because it happens from time to time. And the smell dissipated rather quickly. I wasn't sure where to file the report; I picked crew illness because I later found out that the 3 FA's were taken off of their trip due to the Air Quality Event. We were rushing to get to our next flight. We were at gate XX and were going to XY and had about 55 minutes to do so. I should have called a timeout and read the FOM about Air Quality Events. I should have written it up in the logbook and called the [Duty Officer]. Lesson learned - don't allow the tight schedules and plane swaps influence the task at hand.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.