Large Transport
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 270; Flight Crew Total 6160; Flight Crew Type 2475
Situational Awareness
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown
Company Policy; Human Factors
I am filing this report due to improper and potentially unsafe procedures used during pushback in Kansas City. I have 2 issues of concern.Issue Number 1: The ground crew plugged in and told me they were ready to push. I said 'brakes released; cleared to push'. The ground crew then told me to standby. After a few minutes they came back and said they were ready for push. I asked them what the delay was about and they said the tow bar wasn't hooked up correctly. My concern is exactly that - if the tow bar wasn't hooked up correctly why did they tell me they were ready to push in the first place?Issue Number 2. After pushback; when told to set the brakes; I said 'brakes set'. The next thing I observed was the ground crew holding up the pin and giving me a salute. At no point subsequent to me telling him the brakes were set did he say 'tow bar disconnected; bypass pin removed'.The ramp procedures in MCI are EXTREMELY sloppy. I believe they are sloppy to the point of potentially causing an incident/accident in the future. I conveyed this sentiment to operations prior to taxi and the response I got was something to the effect of 'yeah; we've been trying to get them to change for a while to no avail'. That tells me that this incident is not a one off item but a continuing problem.
Air carrier Captain believed that the ground crew at MCI was extremely sloppy and did not follow company SOPs for verbal commands during push back and disconnect from the tug.