Date: 201906
Local time of day: 1201-1800
Location: SBN.Airport, IN
Flight conditions: VMC
Light: Daylight
Aircraft: Regional Jet CL65; Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 121
Flight plan: IFR
Mission: Passenger
Flight phase: Takeoff / Launch
Airspace: Class C SBN
ATC / advisory: Tower SBN
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: Pilot Flying; Captain
Reporter qualification: Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Second reporter function: Pilot Not Flying; First Officer
Anomaly: Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Weight And Balance; Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown
Detector: Person Ground Personnel
When detected: In-flight
Result: Flight Crew Overcame Equipment Problem
Contributing factors: Human Factors; Procedure; Staffing
Primary problem: Human Factors

Narrative: During takeoff roll power was applied to 70% per aircraft SOP. During takeoff roll Tower informed us company was trying to get a hold of us for a bag miscount error. The radio call was observed without any reply from the pilots and we elected to continue in an effort not to sacrifice safety during a high area of vulnerability. After rotation; gear retraction and checklist completion we finished the radio call with ATC. Further into the flight after sterile flight was completed we elected to call Operations to find they had mistakenly included 20 gate check bags on our electronic manifest. The bags were not actually on board giving us an incorrect bag count of minus 600 pounds. We changed this weight in our zero fuel weight calculation for landing in ZZZ and continued our flight with normal operations and no subsequent effects due to misloading. The cause of this was an incorrect electronic manifest being sent to the aircraft per operations fault in scanning the appropriate amount of bags for the flight. Due to low staffing in SBN and haste this error occurred. Through proper supervision and diligence this error could have been avoided. A more early and prompt message to the pilots could have solved the incorrect loading if given to the pilots prior to an area of high vulnerability. Furthermore a radio call from Tower did not feel appropriate to relay information as we were on our takeoff roll and only added distraction during a high area of vulnerability.


Second narrative: We were departing SBN and once we got in the air we were notified by the Tower that Operations was trying to get ahold of us due to a bag miscount. I then called South Bend Operations and they said that they had scanned all of our bags plus another flight that was heading to ZZZ1 and that we in fact had 19 plane side bags instead of what they had sent to the ACARS or 39 plane side bags. So our performance was ran with 39 plane side bags instead of the 19 that we actually had onboard; a difference of 570 lbs. Meanwhile we notified Dispatch. Upon running the landing numbers in ZZZ we subtracted 570 lbs from the calculated weight and landed without incident. The ground crew's inability to enter and send the correct numbers of bags to the aircrafts ACARS system. Better training and more ground crew in SBN. They are always shorthanded and working multiple flights at the same time.


Synopsis: CRJ flight crew reported a miscount on baggage by ground crew due to staffing; and an untimely call by ATC on climbout.