I have to second several other comments on this thread. First, PBS is worthless if the program has terrible pairings to work with. The lines at the bottom of the list will generally be worse than what you would see with hard lines, but a junior person will usually be able to get a specific day off if that is their only concern.

On the plus side, if the pairings are decent, then the guys at the top of the list will love it. Another advantage of PBS is that it will automaticly compensate for planned absences, i.e. vacation and training events. This translates into about a 10% increase in the number of hard lines and fewer reserves.

Lastly, with PBS you need to know how your program works and remember that garbage in means garbage out. For example, I have seen senior guys get screwed because they asked for max pay and ended up with 10 days off and 95 hours of credit when they really wanted max pay per day. just make sure you learn your program.

In conclusion, I liked PBS at my previous carrier since I was so senior and could ask for almost anything I wanted. I would be terrified if my current carrier started using it since I think it would mean never seeing a weekend off.