Originally Posted by
1234
You mean like what is happening to the junior pilots currently under the AE system?
I don't think that you can look at just the bidding system separately. There are other things in each of the contracts that allowed the system to work effectively and relatively efficiently. ALV for the entire fleet does not allow the company as much flexibility in creating schedules without as much dh penalty. The NWA system allowed for the monthly maxes to vary by base/category/seat. I really don't care which system we use (I actually prefer the monthly system however), but no matter what system we use, there is no reason that we shouldn't be allowed to have more visibility into what everyone else is bidding (the NWA system was great in that it allowed you to see exactly who was bidding what and where that seat was in there overall preferences).
I remember it being established long ago, on a forum far, far away, that seeing what people bid, or having practice bids (I think FedEx does it) simply gives one more opportunity to game the system, by witholding their bid to the last minute. As such, it didn't work well, I'm told. What was your experience?
I agree that the preferences we see now are too vague to derive a clear picture of who might be bidding a category, but it's a necessary evil because it protects what I consider to be private info. I don't
wan't people to see how I bid. I only want the pilots to have access to it after the fact, to make sure noone was cheated. Beyond that, it's not of anyone else's business, how I bid, or what I want. I look at it as proprietary info: if I spend hours sweating my PBS bid, I own it. Same for the AE.
I do feel, however, that the comapny has too much freedom with the AE system, and that it needs to be more transparent. I don't like the fact they can choose to backfill or not backfill certain categories druing the award, or that they can selectively not enforce every displacement, or that they can withdraw bids. In my mind, they say what positions are up for bid, and the slots are filled automatically, each vacated position being available to a lower seniority bidder, etc. I was told your APA required backfilling of positions, and I think that's an improvement we should seek.