Narrative:

My crew and I were waiting at the gate for the remaining passengers to get off the aircraft. We then proceeded down the jetway to board and passed the last few passengers and crew in the jetway. I stowed my bag and sat down. The flight attendants were right behind me and boarded. Very shortly after that the passengers were at the door. The fas did not have time to stow their bags; perform their safety checks or inform me that the cabin was still a mess and unacceptable for boarding. The most important point is that the fas were not ready to accept customers and begin a safe and orderly boarding process.I went up to the gate to inquire about what had happened and they told me that the new policy is that on quick turns they board when the cleaning crew gets off of the aircraft. Apparently they don't bother to check with the flight attendants anymore if it is okay to board as it has been the long standing practice. The gate called a few supervisors and I requested that a service representative come to the aircraft. [The rep] listened to my concerns and later got back to me. He did send me a page from the manual that is apparently a new procedure that states 'if operations do not permit completing checks prior to customer boarding; all checks must be completed prior to door closure.' I find this new practice unsafe. The fas need a few minutes to accomplish this before passengers board. They can easily be distracted dealing with the many passenger issues that arise during boarding and may miss a safety item. None of the fas seemed to be aware of the new policy.I also do not understand how the cleaning crew can now determine that it is safe to board? Only the flight attendants can do this and they were never asked.this also completely ignores operating priorities.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 Captain questioned the safety of a new company procedure that allows passengers to board before flight attendants can perform safety checks or determine if the aircraft is suitable for boarding.

Narrative: My crew and I were waiting at the gate for the remaining passengers to get off the aircraft. We then proceeded down the jetway to board and passed the last few passengers and crew in the jetway. I stowed my bag and sat down. The flight attendants were right behind me and boarded. Very shortly after that the passengers were at the door. The FAs did not have time to stow their bags; perform their safety checks or inform me that the cabin was still a mess and unacceptable for boarding. The most important point is that the FAs were not ready to accept customers and begin a SAFE and orderly boarding process.I went up to the gate to inquire about what had happened and they told me that the new policy is that on quick turns they board when the cleaning crew gets off of the aircraft. Apparently they don't bother to check with the flight attendants anymore if it is okay to board as it has been the long standing practice. The gate called a few supervisors and I requested that a service representative come to the aircraft. [The Rep] listened to my concerns and later got back to me. He did send me a page from the manual that is apparently a new procedure that states 'If operations do not permit completing checks prior to customer boarding; all checks must be completed prior to door closure.' I find this new practice UNSAFE. The FAs need a few minutes to accomplish this BEFORE passengers board. They can easily be distracted dealing with the many passenger issues that arise during boarding and may miss a safety item. None of the FAs seemed to be aware of the new policy.I also do not understand how the cleaning crew can now determine that it is safe to board? Only the flight attendants can do this and they were never asked.This also completely ignores Operating Priorities.

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.