Narrative:

Our aircraft had an APU duct leak MEL hence an air cart start was required and supplemental air was hooked up to the aircraft. Upon crew boarding; aircraft temp was hot. At this time the agent and engineer said that the previous day an aircraft with the same type of MEL had problems with inadequate air cart start pressure. I instructed the crew to open all boarding doors to facilitate aircraft cooling and airflow. Conditioned air was warm and flow was inadequate. At departure time agent instructed us to close all doors. I told her not until we were completely ready for start. She then stated that she wanted an on-time departure and wanted the doors closed. I told her in no uncertain terms that that wasn't going to happen.several different start attempts were made using different air carts over a period of two hours including a malfunctioning door problem while we were waiting for a cart with adequate air. With the new cart we tried a start to no avail. I then called operations and told them to bring the jetway to the aircraft for deplaning. After no jetway movement and many people on the ramp not responding to our request; I whistled out the cockpit window to get the attention of the lead agent/manager who was on the phone on the ramp 20 meters away. Cabin temp was now 38C [100.4F] in most zones but was much hotter in many areas with no airflow. I motioned to the agent to come to the window; whereas she turned her back on me; walked up the jetway and continued her conversation on the jetway bridge. About 10 minutes had elapsed since our last start attempt and the passengers were reported to be near fainting. I then told operations that shortly we would evacuate the passengers on the ramp if the jetway was not brought to the aircraft soon. It was only shortly after that the jetway was brought to the aircraft and the passengers deplaned.there is tremendous pressure to the agents to get an on-time departure; whether it be disciplinary or pay incentives. Many times safety is compromised to 'push' the crew into an on-time departure. It was clear at the onset of this flight that her agenda of an on-time departure did not include my agenda of a safe flight. It is also perception only; but it is my belief that the delay to get the jetway to the aircraft in a timely fashion was her attempt to exercise all options to prevent the inconvenience of a deplaning. That is careless inconsiderate and dangerous.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An Airbus Captain reported a conflict with a passenger agent when an extended period on the ramp at LEMD with no cooling available made it advisable to deplane the passengers for their health and safety. Only a threat to evacuate the aircraft resolved the dispute.

Narrative: Our aircraft had an APU duct leak MEL hence an air cart start was required and supplemental air was hooked up to the aircraft. Upon crew boarding; aircraft temp was hot. At this time the agent and engineer said that the previous day an aircraft with the same type of MEL had problems with inadequate air cart start pressure. I instructed the crew to open all boarding doors to facilitate aircraft cooling and airflow. Conditioned air was warm and flow was inadequate. At departure time agent instructed us to close all doors. I told her not until we were completely ready for start. She then stated that she wanted an on-time departure and wanted the doors closed. I told her in no uncertain terms that that wasn't going to happen.Several different start attempts were made using different air carts over a period of two hours including a malfunctioning door problem while we were waiting for a cart with adequate air. With the new cart we tried a start to no avail. I then called Operations and told them to bring the jetway to the aircraft for deplaning. After no jetway movement and many people on the ramp not responding to our request; I whistled out the cockpit window to get the attention of the Lead Agent/Manager who was on the phone on the ramp 20 meters away. Cabin temp was now 38C [100.4F] in most zones but was much hotter in many areas with no airflow. I motioned to the agent to come to the window; whereas she turned her back on me; walked up the jetway and continued her conversation on the jetway bridge. About 10 minutes had elapsed since our last start attempt and the passengers were reported to be near fainting. I then told Operations that shortly we would evacuate the passengers on the ramp if the jetway was not brought to the aircraft soon. It was only shortly after that the jetway was brought to the aircraft and the passengers deplaned.There is tremendous pressure to the agents to get an on-time departure; whether it be disciplinary or pay incentives. Many times safety is compromised to 'push' the crew into an on-time departure. It was clear at the onset of this flight that her agenda of an on-time departure did not include my agenda of a safe flight. It is also perception only; but it is my belief that the delay to get the jetway to the aircraft in a timely fashion was her attempt to exercise all options to prevent the inconvenience of a deplaning. That is careless inconsiderate and dangerous.

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.