A320 captain reported discovering during the before start checklist that the fuel load was 1;000 pou...

Narrative:

Prior to departure as we completed the before start checklist; noticed the fuel value (23K) on the fuel service form (fsf) was 1;000 less than on the most current release 1 (24K) for our planned gate. ACARS sent to dispatch to confirm we were still on release 1. Response back was yes; and he did not lower our fuel or trim ferry fuel. After calling to speak with load planning (lp) supervisor I discovered lp did lower the fuel based on preventing bumping bags or people. Concern is that lp adjusted the amount of ferry fuel without coordinating with captain or dispatcher. Although I realize lp has the authority to lower ferry fuel; I believe they reduced it more than permissible by reducing it to 21;800 + 437 for taxi = 22;237 planned gate. Substantially lower than the 24.0 that the dispatch and I agreed on. According to fom; lp cannot reduce ferry below 75 minutes endurance. They effectively trimmed our ferry by 1;763 pounds which was substantially more than the 12 minutes they are permitted. We did coordinate with dispatch before takeoff to ensure we had a correct release.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A320 Captain reported discovering during the Before Start Checklist that the fuel load was 1;000 pounds less than their release. Research revealed that Load Planning made the change on their own to accommodate more passengers and cargo.

Narrative: Prior to departure as we completed the before start checklist; noticed the fuel value (23K) on the Fuel Service Form (FSF) was 1;000 less than on the most current release 1 (24K) for our planned gate. ACARS sent to Dispatch to confirm we were still on release 1. Response back was yes; and he did not lower our fuel or trim ferry fuel. After calling to speak with Load Planning (LP) supervisor I discovered LP did lower the fuel based on preventing bumping bags or people. Concern is that LP adjusted the amount of ferry fuel without coordinating with Captain or Dispatcher. Although I realize LP has the authority to lower Ferry fuel; I believe they reduced it more than permissible by reducing it to 21;800 + 437 for taxi = 22;237 planned gate. Substantially lower than the 24.0 that the Dispatch and I agreed on. According to FOM; LP cannot reduce Ferry below 75 minutes endurance. They effectively trimmed our ferry by 1;763 LBS which was substantially more than the 12 minutes they are permitted. We did coordinate with Dispatch before takeoff to ensure we had a correct release.

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.

Attributes
ACN	1328018
Time
Date	201601
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A320
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 177 Flight Crew Total 9023 Flight Crew Type 5054
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural FAR Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Procedural Weight And Balance Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue

A320 captain reported discovering during the before start checklist that the fuel load was 1;000 pounds less than their release. Research revealed that load planning made the change on their own to accommodate more passengers and cargo.