Well, we at SKW bid a little different than most airlines. Mgmnt Forced this system called PBS (Preferential Bidding System) on us that allows us to create our entire month where at most airlines they create the monthly line and you bid on the line you want. PBS is a great system because it's very efficient when it comes to utilizing pilots and equipment. BUT, if you don’t negotiate rules for PBS to operate by you will end up flying open time for straight pay. PBS will take all the open time (flying time that is left over after everyone gets their lines) and spread it out over everyone’s schedule (junior pilots schedule) until it’s all being flown, and you end up flying it at straight pay. Otherwise you can pick up open time for time and a half or if you’re at Mess-a it gets junior manned to you. SKW doesn't force junior man flights, you have the option of turning them down unless you're the last man on the totem pole. Because we are non-union at SKW, Mgmnt forced us to start using PBS and we were unable to negotiate any changes, like time and a half for a line over 85 hours block, no less than 12 days off and no forced flying over your line. When I say forced flying I means there's a period between when you awarded you line and when your lines is finalized that they can force flying on you. In other words, you get your line and you start planning your month around it, then 5 days later your line is finalized and you end up with forced flying that you never bid for.

With PBS it’s a lot easier to get days off. I bid in the top 15 in KFAT (Fresno, CA) and I was able to get a total of 16 days off and the last 9 days of November off. Also my line was for 97 hours of credit pay on 84 hours of block. With my schedule in December I bid so I don’t have to go back until the 5th which ended up giving me 13 days off. I also got 7 days off for X-Mas and New Years off as well. Now, PBS is a very complicated system and will take most quite a while to figure out. If you’re SKW I will be glad to go much deeper but I think you get the picture. My average months are 15-16 days off , 95+ hours of credit pay with about 85 hours of block and I haven’t worked a weekend since June.

Now bidding with your monthly lines already created is much easier because if you have 30 pilots then you have 30 lines. So, if you bid 15th you just have to bid on 15 lines. With PBS if you have 30 pilots then you have 92 pairings (1, 2, 3, 4 day trips) that you bid on to create your monthly line. Like I said let me know if you’re SKW or if you are using PBS and I’ll gladly go much deeper.

It probably takes the average SKW pilot an hour and a half to bid but it takes me close to 5 hours. I love numbers and I enjoy picking throught the pairings with a fine tooth comb to create my bid layers. Because I am so detailed I have yet to get a month I didn't ask for (meaning days off and trip values).

Hope this helped, good luck.