Narrative:

Upon pre-flighting my aircraft I noticed that the crew oxygen bottle was indicating between 980-1;000 psi. I notified operations that I wanted the crew oxygen bottle serviced before departure. Operations said they would notify maintenance. Even though 980 psi on the oxygen was an acceptable level according to the MEL; I requested that it be serviced because the minimum oxygen requirements only provide enough oxygen to make an emergency descent or approximately 15 minutes based on the information available to me in the pilot handbook. There have been numerous aircraft experiencing air quality problems requiring pilots to go on oxygen and make emergency or precautionary landings. Some crewmembers have been hospitalized and some are reported to even have lost their pilot medicals. Our aircraft for that flight was listed as having prior air quality problems in the past. I made the decision to increase the minimum O2 level in order to have additional oxygen available if we needed to divert in flight due to air quality or (fumes) problems. Fifteen minutes of oxygen could be insufficient if diverting while flying over nevada; utah and colorado. Diversion airports could be 30-45 minutes away.I have noticed a dangerous trend in crew oxygen levels. Over the past year or so; crew oxygen quantity levels have dropped considerably. I would guesstimate that the average crew quantity level on my flights is between 1;100 - 1;300 psi. An amber half box comes on the ECAM when the pressure bleeds down below 1;500 psi. This is a cautionary warning to make you aware of your oxygen level. We operate all the time with less than 1;500 psi and the amber warning. We are conditioning our pilots to accept amber warnings as the norm and this procedure could affect our responses to situations in real events.in the interest of safety; crew oxygen bottles should not leave a maintenance station without 1;500 psi. We live in a dangerous world where toxic fumes could be released on aircraft by a terrorist or disgruntled person or maybe toxic fumes entering the aircraft passenger compartment from the air conditioning system. Pilots need enough oxygen to get the aircraft on the ground; not just down to 10;000 ft. Maintenance could service oxygen bottles on the overnights to prevent any delays. While passengers may only have 13 minutes of oxygen and some may not survive till the aircraft gets on the ground; you can be sure that if the pilots only have 15 minutes of oxygen and become incapacitated in flight; nobody will survive.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An A321 Captain believed his company was not proactive enough regarding maintaining flight crew oxygen levels at levels above the minimum required for dispatch.

Narrative: Upon pre-flighting my aircraft I noticed that the crew oxygen bottle was indicating between 980-1;000 PSI. I notified Operations that I wanted the crew oxygen bottle serviced before departure. Operations said they would notify maintenance. Even though 980 PSI on the oxygen was an acceptable level according to the MEL; I requested that it be serviced because the minimum oxygen requirements only provide enough oxygen to make an emergency descent or approximately 15 minutes based on the information available to me in the Pilot Handbook. There have been numerous aircraft experiencing air quality problems requiring pilots to go on oxygen and make emergency or precautionary landings. Some crewmembers have been hospitalized and some are reported to even have lost their pilot medicals. Our aircraft for that flight was listed as having prior air quality problems in the past. I made the decision to increase the minimum O2 level in order to have additional oxygen available if we needed to divert in flight due to air quality or (FUMES) problems. Fifteen minutes of oxygen could be insufficient if diverting while flying over Nevada; Utah and Colorado. Diversion airports could be 30-45 minutes away.I have noticed a dangerous trend in crew oxygen levels. Over the past year or so; crew oxygen quantity levels have dropped considerably. I would guesstimate that the average crew quantity level on my flights is between 1;100 - 1;300 PSI. An amber half box comes on the ECAM when the pressure bleeds down below 1;500 PSI. This is a cautionary warning to make you aware of your oxygen level. We operate all the time with less than 1;500 PSI and the amber warning. We are conditioning our pilots to accept amber warnings as the norm and this procedure could affect our responses to situations in real events.In the interest of safety; crew oxygen bottles should not leave a Maintenance Station without 1;500 PSI. We live in a dangerous world where toxic fumes could be released on aircraft by a terrorist or disgruntled person or maybe toxic fumes entering the aircraft passenger compartment from the air conditioning system. Pilots need enough oxygen to get the aircraft on the ground; not just down to 10;000 FT. Maintenance could service oxygen bottles on the overnights to prevent any delays. While passengers may only have 13 minutes of oxygen and some may not survive till the aircraft gets on the ground; you can be sure that if the pilots only have 15 minutes of oxygen and become incapacitated in flight; nobody will survive.

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.