Originally Posted by
Left Handed
You are correct that PBS helps out the top 20%, is probably the same for the middle 30%, and screws the bottom 50%. You have to decide where you are going to be when the merry go round stops. What you said above is true- in conflict bidding you screw the rest of the month to get what you need, but with PBS you do that same thing. Like you said, you can bid for days off but end up working the rest of the month harder for it. It has been much easier with red/green the trade my trips lately, so I don't see the benefit to me of PBS. It sure does benefit the company . It will delay upgrades with how much more efficient it can schedule us.
I hear ya. A couple of things:
From what I've seen, your percentages on who gets the good deal vs. who gets screwed maybe a bit off. My experience thus far with PBS on 3 different aircraft in 2 different bases is that you need to be about 40-45% from the top of your category to get all weekends and holidays off (even Christmas). Below that, it really depends on the trip mix for your base/equipment. If there are lots of good trips, a good QOL can continue on down to I'd say the 60-65% guys. All depends on the trips in the bid pack. No doubt about it though, like you said, get much below that and all the good stuff is gone and you are all weekends and holidays-working boy.
On the vacation thing: Remember, I was talking about a month when you didn't even have an awarded vacation but invented one, you were talking about one where you do. And while you'll work more days the rest of the month to make up for it you're still picking the individual trips yourself, so you can lessen the pain.