Narrative:

The aircraft had the #4 flight attendant jumpseat placarded for a frayed belt in the harness. The MEL requires that the nearest passenger seat be placarded with a physical placard stating 'for flight attendant use only'. This is clearly stated in the MEL. I informed the agents at the gate; who had no idea and had already; assigned a passenger to the seat. We were oversold and buying people off. I called maintenance to ask if they could fix the jumpseat (25 minutes prior to departure) to accommodate the passenger. In any case; I informed maintenance that someone needs to come out and finish the MEL placarding job; because there is no physical placard on seat stating 'for flight attendant use only' as required by the MEL. (I have run into this issue several times recently; where items are placarded but not all the steps in the MEL have been done.) I then called the ramp tower to inform them; hoping maybe they could influence maintenance to get the job done. Actually; exactly the opposite occurred. The ramp tower stated that 'maintenance doesn't care about the passenger and they won't try to fix it; and I wouldn't take a delay for it if I were you'. About 5 minutes before departure time; as the maintenance technician was back working on putting the physical placard on the seat; the agent came on board and said words to the effect that the ramp tower was 'freaking out' because we were going to be delayed and there was no need; as the placard was 'in the system'. I explained the situation in detail to both customer service agents; who sort of rolled their eyes at the ramp tower's behavior. A minute or two later; the agent returned again; stating that the ramp tower supervisor was again freaking out and was really upset that we were going to take a delay because 'the placard is in the system' and there's nothing that needs to be done. I offered to call the ramp tower myself and did so. I calmly explained to [name] that the MEL clearly states in black and white that a placard must be affixed to the passenger seat and it had not been done. These are the sorts of things that the company gets fined for by the FAA. I was also concerned that if we did not affix this placard; a captain down the line could unwittingly operate the aircraft with a passenger in the seat and a flight attendant on the spare aft jumpseat; in violation of the MEL. He proceeded to tell me; in a very agitated manner; that 'we've never done it this way'; 'we placard flight attendant jumpseats all the time and I've never heard of this'; etc. Etc. Clearly; he seemed to believe that I was actively trying to muck up the operation; when all I was doing was trying to comply with an FAA regulation in the MEL that was black and white. He was clearly concerned with one thing only; the out time. I believe that the company's stated priorities are: 1) safety; 2) customer service; and 3) operating economics. In this case; I saw no care about any of the three; only care for the on-time departure which drives middle management bonuses. Furthermore; the placard had not been done correctly from the get-go a few legs earlier; as there was nothing 'in the system' about blocking the passenger seat; and customer service had in fact already assigned that seat and boarded the passenger before I personally notified them. So the ramp tower person was potentially wrong on all counts. Was the seat block really 'in the system' or was it just done for this leg? I know what is happening here. Middle managers are paid their bonuses based on D+0 performance. I was told this point blank to my face by a manager many years ago. What is happening is that the pressure is rolling down hill. It is causing the on-scene folks like the customer service agents and ramp tower folks to 'rush to comply'; to minimize safety issues in order to try to get the almighty out time. For the record; we left 9 minutes late and arrived exactly on time. I am extremely concerned about our company's safety culture at this point in time. It's time to revamp our bonus systems so that they do not create these incentives to operate in violation of far's.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: MD83 Captain laments his Company's fixation with on time departures at the apparent expense of all other considerations.

Narrative: The aircraft had the #4 flight attendant jumpseat placarded for a frayed belt in the harness. The MEL requires that the nearest passenger seat be placarded with a physical placard stating 'For Flight Attendant Use Only'. This is clearly stated in the MEL. I informed the agents at the gate; who had no idea and had already; assigned a passenger to the seat. We were oversold and buying people off. I called Maintenance to ask if they could fix the jumpseat (25 minutes prior to departure) to accommodate the passenger. In any case; I informed Maintenance that someone needs to come out and finish the MEL placarding job; because there is no physical placard on seat stating 'For Flight Attendant Use Only' as required by the MEL. (I have run into this issue several times recently; where items are placarded but not all the steps in the MEL have been done.) I then called the Ramp Tower to inform them; hoping maybe they could influence Maintenance to get the job done. Actually; exactly the opposite occurred. The Ramp Tower stated that 'maintenance doesn't care about the passenger and they won't try to fix it; and I wouldn't take a delay for it if I were you'. About 5 minutes before departure time; as the maintenance technician was back working on putting the physical placard on the seat; the agent came on board and said words to the effect that the Ramp Tower was 'freaking out' because we were going to be delayed and there was no need; as the placard was 'in the system'. I explained the situation in detail to both Customer Service Agents; who sort of rolled their eyes at the Ramp Tower's behavior. A minute or two later; the agent returned again; stating that the Ramp Tower Supervisor was again freaking out and was really upset that we were going to take a delay because 'the placard is in the system' and there's nothing that needs to be done. I offered to call the Ramp Tower myself and did so. I calmly explained to [name] that the MEL clearly states in black and white that a placard must be affixed to the passenger seat and it had not been done. These are the sorts of things that the Company gets fined for by the FAA. I was also concerned that if we did not affix this placard; a Captain down the line could unwittingly operate the aircraft with a passenger in the seat and a flight attendant on the spare aft jumpseat; in violation of the MEL. He proceeded to tell me; in a very agitated manner; that 'we've never done it this way'; 'we placard flight attendant jumpseats all the time and I've never heard of this'; etc. etc. Clearly; he seemed to believe that I was actively trying to muck up the operation; when all I was doing was trying to comply with an FAA regulation in the MEL that was black and white. He was clearly concerned with one thing only; the out time. I believe that the Company's STATED priorities are: 1) safety; 2) customer service; and 3) operating economics. In this case; I saw no care about any of the three; only care for the on-time departure which drives middle management bonuses. Furthermore; the placard had NOT been done correctly from the get-go a few legs earlier; as there was NOTHING 'in the system' about blocking the passenger seat; and Customer Service had in fact already assigned that seat and boarded the passenger before I personally notified them. So the Ramp Tower person was potentially wrong on all counts. Was the seat block really 'in the system' or was it just done for this leg? I know what is happening here. Middle managers are paid their bonuses based on D+0 performance. I was told this point blank to my face by a manager many years ago. What is happening is that the pressure is rolling down hill. It is causing the on-scene folks like the Customer Service Agents and Ramp Tower folks to 'rush to comply'; to minimize safety issues in order to try to get the almighty out time. For the record; we left 9 minutes late and arrived exactly on time. I am extremely concerned about our Company's safety culture at this point in time. It's time to revamp our bonus systems so that they do not create these incentives to operate in violation of FAR's.

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.