AbstractIn this paper, we investigate a permutation statistic that was independently introduced by Romik (Funct Anal Appl 39(2):52–155, 2005). This statistic counts the number of bumps that occur during the execution of the Robinson–Schensted procedure when applied to a given permutation. We provide several interpretations of this bump statistic that include the tableaux shape and also as an extremal problem concerning permutations and increasing subsequences. Several aspects of this bump statistic are investigated from both structural and enumerative viewpoints.