Narrative:

I received a phone call from [a manager] asking me to return to the airport and remove an MEL placed on the aircraft the previous day for a tail deice boot patch that is peeling. He said he needed it removed and a nef (nonessential equipment and furnishings program) applied instead so it can be flown in icing conditions. I voiced my concerns that if that patch comes off or peels further inflight; we will have no way to remove ice from the tail and we will then begin accumulating tail plane ice. He said to; 'check it on the ground and watch it close on pre and post flight'. I told him that did no good if it peels off in a descent. His response was; 'we need that airplane available to generate revenue before we have to fix it'.we need management to stop pressuring us to fly potentially dangerous aircraft. This nef should have never been approved by the FAA in the first place. Thought needs to be given to safety before these items are approved.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CE-560XLS Captain reported he felt pressure from his company to withdraw a maintenance write-up on a tail deice boot patch.

Narrative: I received a phone call from [a manager] asking me to return to the airport and remove an MEL placed on the aircraft the previous day for a tail deice boot patch that is peeling. He said he needed it removed and a NEF (Nonessential Equipment and Furnishings program) applied instead so it can be flown in icing conditions. I voiced my concerns that if that patch comes off or peels further inflight; we will have no way to remove ice from the tail and we will then begin accumulating tail plane ice. He said to; 'check it on the ground and watch it close on pre and post flight'. I told him that did no good if it peels off in a descent. His response was; 'we need that airplane available to generate revenue before we have to fix it'.We need management to stop pressuring us to fly potentially dangerous aircraft. This NEF should have never been approved by the FAA in the first place. Thought needs to be given to safety before these items are approved.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.