A319
Communication Breakdown; Training / Qualification
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Weight And Balance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Flight Crew Overcame Equipment Problem
Staffing; Manuals; Company Policy
The station apparently does not have a Loadmaster. They sent a message in their response to our in-range report that they wanted me; as captain; to sign the weight and balance worksheet. I looked in Vol 1 and couldn't find any provision for this. I looked at the weight and balance worksheet and don't think I'd be in a position to sign the form because short of supervising the entire loading process; I really have no way to know if the conditions are met to truthfully sign the affirmation near the signature line on the weight and balance worksheet. The signature line is also labeled 'Loadmaster' which I am not.Vol 1 has a section that is titled 'When Loadmaster is Not Available'; but it isn't very clear. I couldn't see any provision allowing the captain to sign the Load Worksheet. Our ACARS worked so we ran the standard AWP solution and that came out just fine--legal for flight and within limits. As a belt-and-suspenders move; I went ahead and called Central Load Planning and had them run a computer-generated weight and balance. I signed one copy of the computer generated weight and balance and left it with the station. I did this because I thought it was important to have *some* form of paper weight and balance signed and left with the station.This situation concerns me on several levels:1.  It seems to me that I've been told by memo or somewhere in the training process that I MUST have a signed weight and balance worksheet in my possession before leaving the gate. Unfortunately; I cannot find this requirement in our official policy and procedure manual--VOL 1. If this is a requirement; I think it should be clearly stated in the manuals and not just appear in memos.2.  The VOL 1 instructions for using Centralized Load Planning seem to contradict my understanding that we MUST have a signed weight and balance worksheet.3.  The station manager seemed to think that sending an ACARS message to the inbound crew was sufficient to change Company procedure. He was confused and slightly perturbed that I went through the process of contacting Centralized Load Planning and did not want to sign the weight and balance load worksheet. If we are going to outsource everything related to the operation of this airline; there ought to be a clear training program for the contractors and they ought to be supervised by a Frontier representative--someone other than the captain--because it's unreasonable to expect me to know every rule and policy regarding station operations.I realize we're trying to outsource the entire operation; but where does safety come in? I would think that we should have at least one Frontier employee on duty at each station whenever a Frontier flight is operating to monitor the situation and ensure company policies and procedures are being followed. I think it is unreasonable to expect the flight crew to act in a supervisory capacity with regard to station operations. A flight crew only has so much time and only so much bandwidth. Expecting me to know and manage the station operations means I have less time to devote to the management and operation of the aircraft and the crew. Something has to give. At some point the flight crew WILL become sufficiently task saturated and safety will be compromised. I think we're nearing that point.
An A319 Captain reports the lack of a loadmaster at a down line station. That station wanted him to sign the weight and balance worksheet. He refused to do so since he was not a 'Loadmaster'. He called Central Load Planning and had them generate a computer generated weight and balance. He signed one copy of that weight and balance and left that copy with the station.