B767-300 and 300 ER
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General None Reported / Taken
Procedure
The chosen vendor for most outstations...appears to not properly train their personnel on pushbacks; or they only gloss over it. On this particular flight; not only was improper phraseology used; after three attempts at telling the ground crew which way to push the airplane; it was still faced the wrong way. They had to pull us back onto the ramp and then push us back out the proper direction. After the pushback; we weren't shown the pin; and the ground crew just walked away without someone with wands or someone even facing the aircraft. This seems to be a trend at all of the stations they handle. [This] is a 'startup' station and many of the personnel staffing it were temporarily here from other stations to train the individuals. It is quite concerning that there is no language barrier; yet the ground crew's communication is so ambiguous that there is confusion about when to push. Then; when the airplane is set; they remove the tug and tow bar as per normal operation. After cleared from the aircraft; there is no one off to the side with the wands to verify the aircraft is clear. They all just walk away and none of them face the aircraft to give us the all-clear or to ensure we flash the taxi light prior to taxi. There is no way we could flash the taxi light 3 times if we need to have them come back to the aircraft. My main reason for submitting this report is my concern for highly degraded safety. Obviously we can't see very much of the operation; and can't tell if everyone is safely clear of the aircraft if they just walk away. Working around the aircraft can be a hazardous environment; and it would weigh heavily on me should one of the ground crew be hurt because they are untrained; unaware; or don't understand the safety processes we have in place to increase the margin of safety. The non-standard phraseology and ambiguous communication shows that they aren't properly trained on the hazards to themselves on pushing the aircraft.
B767-300 Captain reported that contract ramp personnel are not properly trained regarding aircraft handling procedures.