alfaromeo

Definitions

Advanced Entitlement (AE) - A position awarded based on your preference
Voluntary Displacement (VD, not a disease) - If the company has posted surpluses in your category, you can elect to volunteer to take the displacement in lieu of a junior pilot
Mandatory Displacement (MD) - You are forced out of your category due to surplus
Conversion - Getting assigned to your new category
Initial Operating Experience (IOE) - After your simulator training your checkout in the airplane with a Line Check pilot
Transoceanic Operating Experience (TOE) - Extra check out for pilot's going to international flying

Bid Postings

Management will post vacancies and surpluses whenever they want to. Generally you have about 3-6 per year depending upon the level of fleet changes. The standard bid has a 210 day window from bid closing to when they are required to convert you. The company has the option to specify a 365 day window for one bid a year (they just used this option for 2009).

After the bid closes, they will post the award within a few days. Sometimes it is the same day, sometimes it is 5 or 6 days. Shortly after that, they will post a projected training schedule so you can get an idea when you are going to the school house. When you are approaching your training, you have to order your new aircraft publications (can be done online) and they will either be shipped to your house (I think you have to pay for it) or they will send them to your base. All training requires you to complete a home study course before going to class.

When you are in training, you will get converted to your new category. If your training is scheduled to end before the 16th you will be converted in that month. If your training is scheduled to end after that, you will be converted in the next month. For example if your training is scheduled to end June 10th you will be converted June 1. If your training is scheduled to end June 20th you will converted July 1. After training, you are on the hook to get your IOE/TOE. If you have important family events in that time you can try to call the IOE planners ahead of time and they usually will work with you.

After your IOE/TOE is complete, you have two options for the rest of the month. You can get a reserve line with pro-rated X-days or you can get a blank regular line. If you take the blank regular line, you can try to pick up trips, but if you don't get a trip, then you get no pay. The pay for the time you are in training and IOE/TOE is too complicated to put down here, generally you get a prorated portion of the ALV for the month.

Conversions

For AE's and VD's, pilots are trained and converted in seniority order. They can put a more junior pilot ahead of you for one month, after that you get pay protection. Displacements are done in inverse seniority order.

If you get an AE or VD, you will lose your vacation selections and will have to rebid them in your new category. (they process vacation move-ups every month). If you get an MD then you will keep your vacations in your new category.

One thing to remember is that all pilots in a prior bid can be converted ahead of you, even if they are junior.

Displacements

If you are displaced (MD), then you can take any positions in any base that your seniority can hold. If you take a VD, then you can displace into any position in any base that the pilot who would have been displaced (mandatorily) instead of you can hold. For example, you are seniority 5000 and elect to take a voluntary displacement. If you didn't take the displacement, then a more junior pilot would have been forced to take a displacement, his seniority is 5600. You can move to any position that seniority 5600 can hold throughout the system.

Freezes

Freezes start on the DATE OF THE BID AWARD for AE and VD. They usually last 24 months. If you are already on a 767 and go to another 767 (ER or 767-400) then your freeze is 9 months. If you get an MD you don't have a freeze.

Preferences (Pref Card)

You have many options to enter when you make your bid. You can specify regular line only, or top XX%, or top XXX in the category. They try to honor those choices pretty well, but since you are converted in seniority order it is possible you could be more junior than you specified until all pilots are trained. Most pilots give themselves a little slack on the percentages because it doesn't always work exactly.

You have to make individual entries for AE choices, VD choices, and MD choices. They stay in the computer until you change them. EXCEPTION: Once you get an award, they are all erased. You will get a popup message when they have posted a new bid to remind you to check your bids. Make sure you don't have something sitting in there that you put in three years ago, but no longer want.