Company procedure regarding weight and balance reported as very poor.

Attributes
ACN	114743
Time
Date	198906
Day	Fri
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	airport : zzz
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Light Transport
Flight Phase	ground : preflight
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : cfi pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 200 flight time total : 7800 flight time type : 500
ASRS Report	114743
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : atp
Events
Anomaly	other anomaly other
Supplementary
Air Traffic Incident	other

Narrative:

Our company weight and balance program is extremely poor. Many in-house criticisms and suggestions have been made to constructively change the procedure and form. To date, only a modified form has been submitted to the FAA for approval, it does not allow for mistakes, or last minute changes. Too often the flight crew has to redo the weight and balance form because the form is unreadable due to the illegible figures and scratch-outs made by the agents who are assigned the task of weight and balance preparation. The emphasis recently by company management has been on time gate departures. This could very well be the clue along with the complicated method required to prepare the form. A weight and balance program for our aircraft has not been adopted.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: COMPANY PROC REGARDING WEIGHT AND BALANCE REPORTED AS VERY POOR.

Narrative: OUR COMPANY WEIGHT AND BALANCE PROGRAM IS EXTREMELY POOR. MANY IN-HOUSE CRITICISMS AND SUGGESTIONS HAVE BEEN MADE TO CONSTRUCTIVELY CHANGE THE PROC AND FORM. TO DATE, ONLY A MODIFIED FORM HAS BEEN SUBMITTED TO THE FAA FOR APPROVAL, IT DOES NOT ALLOW FOR MISTAKES, OR LAST MINUTE CHANGES. TOO OFTEN THE FLT CREW HAS TO REDO THE WEIGHT AND BALANCE FORM BECAUSE THE FORM IS UNREADABLE DUE TO THE ILLEGIBLE FIGURES AND SCRATCH-OUTS MADE BY THE AGENTS WHO ARE ASSIGNED THE TASK OF WEIGHT AND BALANCE PREPARATION. THE EMPHASIS RECENTLY BY COMPANY MGMNT HAS BEEN ON TIME GATE DEPS. THIS COULD VERY WELL BE THE CLUE ALONG WITH THE COMPLICATED METHOD REQUIRED TO PREPARE THE FORM. A WEIGHT AND BALANCE PROGRAM FOR OUR ACFT HAS NOT BEEN ADOPTED.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of August 2007 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.