Each pilot shall have a vacation credit hour bank established at the beginning of the bid period commencing closest to January 1, each year, based upon the vacation hours he has accrued (as provided in Section 7.B.). A pilot's vacation credit hour bank shall be calculated by multiplying the number of vacation days by 6 CH. A pilot's bank shall be adjusted for positive balances (as provided in Section 7.I.3.d., 7.E.1.b.v., or 7.G.5.c.), or negative credit hour balances from the previous year's vacation bank.
A pilot must have a vacation credit hour bank balance greater than zero to take a vacation period.
If the SCH value of a pilot's last vacation period in a year exceeds the balance in his vacation credit hour bank, he may elect to reduce the number of vacation days in his vacation period in order to avoid or reduce a deficit in his vacation bank. A pilot shall communicate this election to CRS during the Conflict Input Window.
Vacation Deficit and Make-Up
If a pilot's vacation credit hour bank balance falls below the credit hour value of his remaining vacation in a calendar year, the following shall apply:
The pilot may bid for a make-up vacation trip(s) during the View/Add window for the bid period in which the pilot has a vacation period that, if taken as scheduled, would result in a vacation bank deficit. The credit hour of the make-up vacation trip(s) shall not exceed the projected deficit by more than 6 hours.
The pilot may submit for a make-up vacation trip(s) (as provided in Section 25.L.5.) at any time during the calendar year.
Make-up vacation credit hours earned in the last bid period of a calendar year (i.e., December), shall be credited to the pilot's vacation credit hour bank for the following calendar year.
Clearing the Bank
A pilot who has a positive balance in his vacation bank after his last vacation period of the year shall be paid for those credit hours, prior to the end of the year, at his pay rate at the beginning of the bid period in which the buy back is paid. The maximum balance subject to buy back is 40% of the vacation bank balance as of the beginning of the calendar year, including positive or negative adjustments from the previous year, plus positive adjustments in the current year, if any.