Originally Posted by
BusCapt
But as a gross simplification, even if the pairings are sub-standard.. it's better to choose which substandard pairings you'll fly and what days of the week you will fly them on. This is HUGE when you need certain days off foily events.
Fellow PBS-ers please chime in here. I am not the foremost expert on this, just someone who's been tremendously pleased with my schedule for the past 17 years using PBS at two different airlines. For the readers of this who think that I'm letting the cat out of the bag and ruining bargaining leverage by admitting that some pilots want PBS, I respectfully disagree. Management already knows that a lot of pilots prefer to build their schedules than have pre-build, canned lines. A retired airline management exec who is a family friend actually laughed at me when I suggested PBS was some powerful bargaining chip in future negotiations. Anecdotal, I know... but it really changed my opinion on the matter.
Yep.. If I'm gonna get crappy trips, let me serve myself the crappy trips I prefer cause at least I'll probably be able to wrangle the days off I want without breaking a sweat.
And yes.... Give airline managers credit... They've known for a long time that PBS is a win-win for both sides and that pilots will/do like it. It's an open secret..
The question is, down the road, are we willing to NOT vote it in if necessary, if the scheduling provisions suck. I love PBS, but personally, I'm willing to walk away from that deal, if the scheduling language is not satisfactory.
We've got to get PBS right, the first time it ever shows up on property.