Date: 201604
Aircraft: A320
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 121
Flight plan: IFR
Flight phase: Parked
Aircraft component: APU
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: First Officer
Reporter qualification: Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Human factors: Other / Unknown
Anomaly: Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown
Detector: Person Flight Crew
When detected: Aircraft In Service At Gate
Result: Flight Crew Took Evasive Action; General Release Refused / Aircraft Not Accepted; General Flight Cancelled / Delayed
Contributing factors: Aircraft; Company Policy; Human Factors
Primary problem: Human Factors

Narrative: Upon arriving at the airport 2 hours early I pulled up the paperwork for the flight and saw that the plane had an inoperable APU. I also noticed we were going to continue to DEN with the same aircraft. We were scheduled for a 10:48 hours duty day with all things going smoothly. I texted the Captain with my concerns about flying two legs with an inoperative APU and that I wasn't comfortable with it. I finished my breakfast and walked to ops to meet the Captain. While in ops the Captain received a call and hung up and said he wasn't sure who it was but they asked if he was flying with a new guy and to convince him to take the plane. I asked for the number and called back to see who it was and he said it was the Duty Manager; so I told him I was the first officer and that I would be filing a report; at which point he asked what my safety concerns were and I said I'm filing a report and goodbye. He called the Captain back soon after and said that the first officer doesn't get a vote and to convince him to take the plane. The Captain was later paged in ops and took a call from Operations and was told the plane was loaded and ready to go at which point the Captain said the plane was refused. He called dispatch to confirm the refusal and dispatch said the Duty Manager called and told him we were taking the plane? At some point while sitting in ops someone approached me in a very aggressive manner and said 'Are you [the First Officer]? At which point I stood up and held out my hand to professionally introduce myself and he refused to shake my hand. He was extremely agitated. It was the assistant chief pilot; at which point the Chief Pilot (CPO) walked out of his office and quickly intervened by calling him into his office. After he talked to the assistant chief pilot the CPO called the Captain into his office for a conversation of which I was not privy to. I am extremely upset with this entire fiasco and felt pressured to change my position. As a first officer I felt extremely insulted and intimidated by this entire event and sometimes wonder what CRM is all about? If this wasn't pilot pushing I don't know what is. I think the fact that I am a first officer had something to do with it; as though I am not a part of the decision making process.




Synopsis: A320 First Officer arrived early for a two leg trip and discovered that the APU is MEL'd. He informed the Captain of his findings in the hope that the aircraft would be refused; which eventually occurred. This caused a row with the Duty Manager.