A319
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 221; Flight Crew Total 14050; Flight Crew Type 4190
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Weight And Balance
General None Reported / Taken
Procedure
Approximately half way towards the departure end of the Runway (16L SEA) Load Planning sent an ACARS message with our 'Final' weights. Within a minute we received a second 'Final' weight message. At this point we were approaching number one for takeoff and quickly loaded into the FMGC the new ZFW/CG (Zero Fuel Weight/Center of Gravity) numbers for recomputed Center of Gravity/Trim and ran through our 'Before takeoff' checklist. Due to the nature of our late arriving weights my First Officer and I elected to stay with the higher speed numbers we had computed prior to engine start (ATGW of 147.6). With our final checks complete we were put into position on Runway 16L and given takeoff clearance. Right after we were airborne we received another 'Final' weight message (3rd) and the ZFW had increased by over 6;000 LBS from the previous message (2nd message). After reaching our initial cruise altitude I sent a message to Dispatch as well as Load Planning to explain the discrepancies. Load Planning replied that right before our takeoff he had received a revised passenger count from [Customer Service]. [Recently] there have been quite a few incidences where Load Planning has sent a message to the cockpit stating that the weights were incorrect and that new weights were on the way. However in this case we did not receive any such notification that 'new Final' weights were on the way. With all the distractions; and constant change that is taking place with our new procedures it is really important to ensure crews do not takeoff if final weights are dynamically changing. It would be better to have Load Planning hold the flight on the ground to ensure all data is stable.
An A319 Captain reported he received final weights after takeoff and this was not an isolated incident.