Narrative:

The [ramp supervisor] failed to assign a lead to the [early morning] departure. When it was realized by area supervisor a horde of leads from all different areas came running. Now 3 leads are there and they are all doing the same tasks over and over because there is mass confusion not knowing who the actual lead is. While all of this is going on 5 members of management (1 manager and 4 supervisors) watch in hopes of an on time departure. All 5 members of management watched an inexperienced (with wide bodies) person pull the main gear chocks while not only was the push tractor not manned but nobody was anywhere near the front of the aircraft. It is amazing that safety isn't quite number 1 when on time departure is in jeopardy and that many supervisors all of a sudden forget the SOP of pulling main gear chocks.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Ramp worker reported SOP and safety were disregarded in the rush to get a flight out on time.

Narrative: The [Ramp Supervisor] failed to assign a Lead to the [early morning] departure. When it was realized by Area Supervisor a horde of leads from all different areas came running. Now 3 leads are there and they are all doing the same tasks over and over because there is mass confusion not knowing who the actual Lead is. While all of this is going on 5 members of Management (1 manager and 4 supervisors) watch in hopes of an on time departure. All 5 members of Management watched an inexperienced (with wide bodies) person pull the main gear chocks while not only was the push tractor not manned but nobody was anywhere near the front of the aircraft. It is amazing that safety isn't quite number 1 when on time departure is in jeopardy and that many supervisors all of a sudden forget the SOP of pulling main gear chocks.

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.