Narrative:

This morning; I was unable to adequately brief the flight attendants due to the agent boarding before the crew was ready. I did the walkaround; accomplished the interior security inspections; and signed the checklist. After looking at the weather for our route of flight on the efb; I was ready to brief the flight attendants about expected turbulence and the need to remain seated departing. The boarding process had begun so I could only speak with the a regarding the weather. She was distracted and I was not sure she was hearing me. Before push; I had to verify she had heard what I said. Luckily; I remembered as the distractions at push time are numerous. This situation of boarding the aircraft before the crew is ready is unnecessarily causing distractions and has become a safety issue.the decision that the entire crew is ready to board needs to be made by the captain; not management policies; agents being pushed to board by said policies; or flight attendants being pushed by agents. The fear of reprimand is sacrificing safety. Management has stated that safety and security are always first; however; the pressure from above filtering down to flight crews proves otherwise. The only person that has the responsibility and authority to be the 'safety valve' without fear of reprimand; and with an unbiased view; is the captain. The captain should determine readiness of the crew to begin the boarding process.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 Captain reported being unable to adequately brief the flight attendants due to the Agent boarding before the crew was ready. The company is pushing the agents and the agents are pushing the flight attendants to board early.

Narrative: This morning; I was unable to adequately brief the Flight Attendants due to the Agent boarding before the Crew was ready. I did the walkaround; accomplished the interior security inspections; and signed the checklist. After looking at the weather for our route of flight on the EFB; I was ready to brief the Flight Attendants about expected turbulence and the need to remain seated departing. The boarding process had begun so I could only speak with the A regarding the weather. She was distracted and I was not sure she was hearing me. Before push; I had to verify she had heard what I said. Luckily; I remembered as the distractions at push time are numerous. This situation of boarding the aircraft before the Crew is ready is unnecessarily causing distractions and has become a Safety issue.The decision that the entire Crew is ready to board needs to be made by the Captain; not management policies; Agents being pushed to board by said policies; or Flight Attendants being pushed by Agents. The fear of reprimand is sacrificing Safety. Management has stated that Safety and security are always first; however; the pressure from above filtering down to Flight Crews proves otherwise. The only person that has the responsibility and authority to be the 'Safety valve' without fear of reprimand; and with an unbiased view; is the Captain. The Captain should determine readiness of the Crew to begin the boarding process.

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.