Date: 201707
Local time of day: 0001-0600
Location: ZZZ.Airport, US
Aircraft: B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 121
Mission: Passenger
Flight phase: Taxi
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: Captain
Human factors: Communication Breakdown
Anomaly: Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Weight And Balance
Detector: Person Flight Crew
When detected: Aircraft In Service At Gate; Pre-flight
Contributing factors: Company Policy
Primary problem: Company Policy

Narrative: Aircraft X was on track for an on time departure. All passengers were boarded by 15 minutes prior to push; or so I thought. At 10 minutes prior to push; I overheard someone say that we were going to leave behind some passengers due to weight restriction. That was the first time I'd heard anything about it. This news contradicted what I thought I knew about the aircraft weight and its load. Not an hour before; the Dispatcher and I had discussed Aircraft X's load; fuel; and weight in detail; given the destination and its special circumstances. There should have been plenty of excess capacity. One of the Gate Agents explained that the Load Planners had issued a weight restriction that would deny boarding to several passengers still in the boarding area. I called Dispatch [who] was also unaware of any weight restriction. Dispatch also observed that we had ample excess capacity. My First Officer got on the radio to Station Ops. They reported no knowledge of any weight restriction. I walked out to the gate to see if I could get more information. One of the other Agents got Load Planning on the phone. She relayed their affirmation that we were indeed weight restricted. I asked her to tell them that if that was true; then all of our previous flight planning was now invalid; and I would have to consult with Dispatch; at least to re-verify our actual weight; before we could close the door. If we had to re-release it could take as much as 30 minutes. She then relayed that if we delayed the flight it would be on the Pilots. One of the Gate Agents explained that the passengers 'were just nonrevs'. Another Gate Agent commented that 'the same thing happens almost every night' when Load Planning imposes a weight restriction at the last minute; causing them to deny boarding to standby passengers. I never got to speak directly to anyone at Load Planning; nor did I ever get any type of notification indicating that we were weight restricted. I did call Dispatch again and confirmed with him our actual weight; as far as we knew. [Load planners] calculated that given our planned; known Load; the additional passengers and their luggage could be easily accommodated. I consulted with my First Officer and with my Flight Manager regarding the standby passengers. Neither could think of any reason why we shouldn't take them with us. Both of them supported my decision to insist on boarding these passengers. I informed the Gate Agents that unless I had more authoritative information than what I'd been given at this point; I would have to ask them not to deny boarding to these passengers. If there was subsequently an overweight condition caused by this; we could deal with it off the Gate. If there was; as I suspected; no reason for a weight restriction that denied them boarding; we could still be on time. The Gate Agents then boarded all five or six (I got distracted with cockpit duties and lost count); and we got underway. According to ACARS; we pushed back 7 minutes late. Once airborne we got a notification that we had been assigned a delay code. During the subsequent ACARS traffic with Dispatch; he confirmed that he had never been given any notice of any weight restriction; even after we started asking for verification of our planned weights. He relayed that the controller [at another station] told him that 'the same thing happens every night.'I would ordinarily write on an event like this. However; this frustrating event illustrates what I perceive is the deadliest threat facing our Flight Operations; and that is our communications--specifically; the lack thereof. The fact is that at 10 minutes before departure; neither the Captain nor the Dispatcher of a night flight into a Special-Qualification airport knew about potential major changes to the aircraft weight and configuration. This is rightly the business of our Flight Safety Program. These kinds of communications failures; and their apparent regularity; should be frightening to us. Why does this 'happen every night?' How long can we expect to get away with this before it hurts us?




Synopsis: A Boeing 737 Captain reported a miscommunication between load planning and dispatch about a weight restriction on the aircraft.