Originally Posted by
ScruttonStreet
Presumably then, you would not take off until the load sheet had been confirmed?
That's correct. It's a legal document that finalises all figures on the flight. It usually in most countries has to be signed by both the dispatcher and the captain in the paper format.
In BAs case, they are part of a minority of airlines that operate in this manor - wherein they receive it via ACARS, often once on the taxi out. Theres clearly pros to this in terms of time savings from last minute changes that happens in BAs type of operation... but also many more cons in my personal opinion. Father_teds example being just one of them. Whilst rare, its a large cost to burn all that taxi fuel to just do it all again.