Originally Posted by
Roadkill
You are incorrect in assuming alv will still go up in heavy months as an indicator. New paradigm now. Look at jul and aug last year. New best method by company is low alv wih min lineholders resulting in max numbers of guys on reserve who you can pay thusly low. Ur fly to alv+15 without their consent. Much better for comp than old method and results in less total pilot pay.
The average ALV system-wide last July and August was 81:23. Assuming that you are staffing to the high flying months, unless you use the highest ALV you can in those months, you are forced to carry additional pilots (Regular Pilots Required = Total block, credit, and planned absence / ALV), and there goes a good amount of your productivity gain.
In the meantime, if you decrease the ALV with a given amount of flying, that means you get more (not fewer) regular line holders and fewer (not more) reserves. A reserve pilot can theoretically be assigned to ALV + 15, but only if he has not exceeded his reserve guarantee.
The bottom line is that low ALVs are an indicator of position staffing relative to the amount of flying in that position -- nothing more. To the extent that a position is "correctly" staffed (from the Company's point of view), you will see the highest ALVs in the heaviest months, and vice versa.