Originally Posted by zoooropa

I have worked for three airlines. Two bid hard lines and one had pref bid.

Pref Bid pros...

1. Bidding. Pref bid makes it a lot easier to bid. No more sorting, no more digging through hundreds of lines. Bid for something or bid against something and let the magic happen.

2. Seniority rules. I mean, seniority f'n rules with pref bid. If you are senior you can build a sweet line (assuming the sequences/pairings don't completely suck).

3. Junior lines sometimes don't suck as bad. Once again, the details matter and if the sequences suck you are screwed but one man's trash is another man's treasure. With pref bid it is possible (not probable) to get exactly what you want, you are not restricted to the hard lines already built.

4. City/overnights. If you have a hard on for a specific city pref bid will get you there as often as possible.

That is it. I consider these "pros" or benefits, but they don't create more income, they don't give ME more control over my schedule. The Company has ultimate control with pref bid.

Pref Bid Cons...

1. Monthly integration overlap. Pref bid eliminates any overlap/conflict. With hard lines you can bid to create conflict and with our CBA you then have super seniority in monthly open time. Once you have super seniority you can...suffice it to say you can create a better schedule. Those that understand our current MOT system are happy. This is important...our CBA, specifically Section 5, was written to create options. The option for extra time off exists as well as the option to increase compensation. Pref bid eliminates those options.

2. Vacation conflict. I can pretty much stop right there but I won't. Our vacation pay potential is huge. The ability to slide vacation either way and drop flying (and then pick it right back up for double pay if you are so inclined) is great. Pref bid eliminates any conflict. Everyone's vacation will pay the same. The #1 guy on the list will get paid the exact number of hours of credit per day on vacation as the most junior new hire. Pref bid destroys the benefit of seniority with regard to vacations and our CBA. This is one of the many reasons the Company wants pref bid so badly.

3. Training pay conflict. Do you want to sit in RGS for eight hours and get paid for four? How about sitting in RGS and getting paid for a 28 hour 4-Day pairing that was dropped. I will take option b thank you very much.

4. Unstacking. Holy shot this alone should kill pref bid. Consider this...christmas is coming up and everyone bids against flying on 24/25. The first 30% of the seniority list get Christmas off, then the number of open duty periods on Christmas triggers the unstacking of open time and a whole bunch of pretty senior dudes and dudettes get assigned flying on Christmas. Once the open time flying is solved the system reverts back to normal and a bunch of junior folks get their first choice, christmas off. Unstacking is a gigantic CF and a huge violation of seniority.

5. Unstacking part II. One trick that the Company will use during popular holidays is create a huge number of sequences/pairings that touch a popular day. A huge number of 5/4/3/2 day sequences end on Christmas and a huge number of 5/4/3/2 day sequences start on Christmas. This way they have a very high percentage of crews available, just in case, for a reassignment. With hard lines they need to spread the block hours across the entire month (per the CBA). Pref Bid creates a lot of mystery. Mystery is the worst thing imaginable when it comes to bidding.

6. Reality. The company tried very hard to push pref bid during the contract 2007 negotiations. During the 2008 BK they tried very hard to push pref bid. During LOA 17, and 20, and 21, and 39 they tried to push pref bid. It was a big item during LOA 67. For some strange reason they keep asking for Pref Bid. Do you think it benefits them more than it benefits you? Do you think it creates a cost savings, at your expense?

Pref Bid, when compared to our current system, is a multi-multi-multi million dollar annual concession. It has already been analyzed and the cost has been established. It is a huge concession.

The worst thing this pilot group could possibly do at this juncture is agree to pref bid.