Narrative:

This report concerns parking and marshalling issues. We taxied in from the east and pulled parallel to an aircraft parking simultaneously at the adjacent gate. While getting established on the lead-in line; we watched a catering and fuel truck in the red area. The marshaller accepted the aircraft and marshalled us forward as the catering truck pulled away; and while the fuel truck was still not clear of the area. He stopped us as the fuel truck pulled in front of us. After the fuel truck cleared; he held up his wands and did not move them. Then; he would move them for a few seconds and stop. He did this a few times; at which point; I flashed the lights at him to clarify his instructions. At the time; he was looking away. I repeated this later. There were 3-4 attempts at non-standard taxi instructions; at which point we called ramp to get another marshaller. Another marshaller showed up; eventually; and through a combination of both non-standard and standard taxi instructions; was able to marshall the aircraft successfully. I taxied the aircraft based on the intent of the marshaller; and with visual clearance; after a short discussion with the first officer. We figured this was the best we were going to do for marshaller's; if non-standard training was conducted in a non-standard manner; the bad training was passed on to most marshaller's. After parking the aircraft; an unidentified employee; assumed but not known to be the ramp supervisor; inquired as to the problem; after a short; terse discussion which included pointing out the safety issues; he walked away saying he would review the video. If this is in fact a ramp supervisor; one could speculate that this appears to be a systemic disregard for the process of marshalling; and the role and position of the pilot in that regard. Employee contact of a safety or constructive nature should not be done in a disrespectful or judging manner; but to seek information to improve the safety and efficiency of the operation. The exchange was unprofessional; and did nothing to support the operation or respect fellow employees. A poorly trained marshaller who gave instructions to taxi toward a fuel truck; and an unprofessional; unknown; supervisor looking employee compromised safe practices today; and greatly impacted future cross-employee participation during safety debriefs.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A320 Captain laments the lack of safety awareness and training that the Marshalls are receiving at his Air Carrier.

Narrative: This report concerns parking and marshalling issues. We taxied in from the east and pulled parallel to an aircraft parking simultaneously at the adjacent gate. While getting established on the lead-in line; we watched a catering and fuel truck in the red area. The Marshaller accepted the aircraft and marshalled us forward as the catering truck pulled away; and while the fuel truck was still not clear of the area. He stopped us as the fuel truck pulled in front of us. After the fuel truck cleared; he held up his wands and did not move them. Then; he would move them for a few seconds and stop. He did this a few times; at which point; I flashed the lights at him to clarify his instructions. At the time; he was looking away. I repeated this later. There were 3-4 attempts at non-standard taxi instructions; at which point we called Ramp to get another Marshaller. Another Marshaller showed up; eventually; and through a combination of both non-standard and standard taxi instructions; was able to marshall the aircraft successfully. I taxied the aircraft based on the intent of the Marshaller; and with visual clearance; after a short discussion with the First Officer. We figured this was the best we were going to do for Marshaller's; if non-standard training was conducted in a non-standard manner; the bad training was passed on to most Marshaller's. After parking the aircraft; an unidentified employee; assumed but not known to be the Ramp Supervisor; inquired as to the problem; after a short; terse discussion which included pointing out the safety issues; he walked away saying he would review the video. If this is in fact a Ramp Supervisor; one could speculate that this appears to be a systemic disregard for the process of marshalling; and the role and position of the pilot in that regard. Employee contact of a safety or constructive nature should not be done in a disrespectful or judging manner; but to seek information to improve the safety and efficiency of the operation. The exchange was unprofessional; and did nothing to support the operation or respect fellow employees. A poorly trained Marshaller who gave instructions to taxi toward a fuel truck; and an unprofessional; unknown; Supervisor looking employee compromised safe practices today; and greatly impacted future cross-employee participation during safety debriefs.

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.