Narrative:

In cockpit and ready for pushback; gate agent came to cockpit and said; 'we have a mess with boarding--we will give you the count over the radio--we are leaving 15 non-revs. Station manager came to cockpit. I asked if we were not going to put non-revs on; he said; 'I am the station manager; it's my call--we are going on schedule. We pushed on schedule. Waited for numbers while taxing; nothing received. I had flight attendant's do a count--they had 127 onboard. Contacted station and was told their count was 115; and numbers had been transmitted. Received printout for 115; (first of seven passenger counts we received from printer) contacted station was said we had 127 on board--they again said 115 was correct. Contacted dispatcher and gave him our count and asked for help. Had to reposition across the active runway by ATC due to delay and holding up traffic. Still trying to communicate with station and dispatch. Received four more printouts--one showing 126 which we used for departure. Received two more printouts with different counts after takeoff. I understand the station manager's control of non-rev boarding (or not) to get an on time push. But I have to ask; whose responsibility is it to know how many people have been boarded? I feel this is a safety issue--rushing to push without taking the time to get a correct count. Company policy for on time push--pressure on station manager for on time push--safety secondary.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A320 flight crew was informed; after a hectic boarding process; that passenger count will be transmitted during taxi to make an on-time departure. Considerable time is spent trying to get the count on the weight and balance to agree with actual count from the flight attendants.

Narrative: In cockpit and ready for pushback; Gate agent came to cockpit and said; 'we have a mess with boarding--we will give you the count over the radio--we are leaving 15 non-revs. Station manager came to cockpit. I asked if we were not going to put non-revs on; he said; 'I am the station manager; it's my call--we are going on schedule. We pushed on schedule. Waited for numbers while taxing; nothing received. I had flight attendant's do a count--they had 127 onboard. Contacted station and was told their count was 115; and numbers had been transmitted. Received printout for 115; (first of SEVEN PASSENGER counts we received from printer) Contacted station was said WE had 127 on board--they again said 115 was correct. Contacted Dispatcher and gave him our count and asked for help. Had to reposition across the active runway by ATC due to delay and holding up traffic. Still trying to communicate with station and dispatch. Received four more printouts--one showing 126 which we used for departure. Received TWO more printouts with different counts AFTER TAKEOFF. I understand the Station Manager's control of non-rev boarding (or not) to get an on time push. But I have to ask; whose responsibility is it to know HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE BEEN BOARDED? I feel this is a safety issue--rushing to push without taking the time to get a correct count. Company policy for on time push--pressure on station manager for on time push--safety secondary.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.