Originally Posted by
berge7f9
From the message that the ASA MEC sent to the ASA pilot group, these are the advantages of using Flightline over SmartPref
Globalization: In a globalized system such as SmartPref, for the globally constrained pilots, seniority can be overlooked if the solution does not meet the Company’s requirements. Even though a pilot may be senior enough to hold certain trips bid, those trips may go to another pilot because it could be required to complete the overall global solution. In a non-Global system like PrefBid, just as with Hard-Line bidding, pilot’s bids are not compared to anyone else’s bid when awarding their schedule. A big misconception about Flightline is that it “globalizes” with manual intervention, that assertion is incorrect.
· Credit Window Control: Global systems can easily restrict pilot earnings and schedule quality by limiting the credit hours a pilot can obtain. Pilots will lose money if the averages are constrained to 75 hours. Pilot surveys have shown individual needs for credit vary, with the averages being 80-85 hours credit. What other employee groups are forced to take a 20% pay cut from month to month based on the Company’s desires?
· Customization and System Faults: Here are a few:
1) Currently, CDOs cannot be broken out and awarded as a pure CDO line in the SmartPref system. Absent this capability, pilots could easily end up with a CDO adjacent to a 4 day trip.
2) SmartPref does not have multiple bid sheets and does not have an unstack bid sheet. Lack of multiple bid sheets could easily result in pilots being awarded trips that they did not desire.
3) SmartPref cannot currently extend vacation, whereas it is possible with PrefBid and Hard-Line bidding
Can someone give me a list of reasons that SmartPref is better than Flightline?
Proper work rules negate each potential concern you just mentioned. First of all, the issue of globalization doesn't come into play until you get to the bottom of the list. The system may technically "globilize" but its far less invasive than what you guys are doing manually each month. In this system, it accomidates everyones request that it can. After the non restricted group is taken care of, it starts going through the restricted group (bottom 20% or less). Lets say the top guy bids 90+ hours weekends off. The system may give him a 96 hour line trips mon-thurs. If it gets to the bottom guy and can only come up with 70 hours of flying, it can pull 5 hours of flying from the other guy, still leaving him with a 91 hour line accomidating his request. As for the CDO rule, that can and will be addressed in the contract. As for the multiple bid sheet concern, that is not relevant as the system allows you to bid for as many different trips and as many different combinations as you want. You bid in a "live" enviornment and will see exactly what you can hold. You can STILL bid for trips and combinations that it shows you cannot currently hold....if a senior guy changes his bid, those trips will automatically move to the top of your bid or
wherever you designated them to be previouly.
Smartpref works completly differently than flightline...comparing the two is apples to oranges. Smartpref can actually be used to extend vacation much more effectively with our current work rules. You can bid for 5-7 work days for the month with a week of vacation, then after the schedule goes final anything you pick up would be added to your guarentee regardless of flight time. Im really not sure how you could get a trip you dont desire when you have the opportunity to bid on every single trip available for the month if you so desire.
As far as the credit window, this would not be company controlled, it would be union controlled. The only way you would be stuck with 75 hours is if you were the last guy and there was only 75 hours left for you to fly. Im really not sure where you guys are getting this info. Smartpref unable to extend vacation....are you kidding? Have you seen this system at all? That line alone proves you guys have no clue about this system.