Originally Posted by
RamenNoodles
But you are correct that PBS will not award a trip that conflicts with other events on your schedule and your ability to swap will be greatly reduced. You have to consider, though, that PBS is one giant initial open time pot where you are more likely to get what you want the first time around and not have to swap later. If PBS awards you a few 2 days and a few 4 days, you'll only have to worry about swapping a few trips instead of the whole month. If you were awarded a line under line bidding with ALL 4 days and tried to swap out with the conflict trips that dropped into open time, your success would be rather low because of ASA's "red arrow day" conflicts. I actually prefer the PBS conflict feature, and here is why:
I like to work Monday through Thursday commutable 4 days. Next month, I have AQP that runs Wednesday through Saturday. Had we still been using the line bidding system, I would have been awarded a 4 day on the same week that I have AQP. The Wednesday and Thursday portion would have dropped into open time, but I'd still be left with a 2 day on Monday and Tuesday which would have made for 6 days of work in a row. No thank you!
With PBS, I just elected to not bid ANY trips the week of my AQP. Now I work a 3 day Mon-Wed during the first week of February, and then don't go back to work until the following Wednesday for AQP.
The fact that conflicts get thrown into the ILIW is what gives our pilots flexibility. The guys that couldn't have held day trips and two days in the initial bid could now pick them up or trade for them. If we get stuck with a trip or more we don't like, we don't have to worry about our "ability to swap will being greatly reduced."
Also, circumstances may change from when you bid. Our system allows you the opportunity to make changes. Or to simply trade for a better trip if one is available in open time. Our equivalent of "red arrows" doesn't really come into consideration until the SLIW. And even then, we have BD/WD trading capabilities.
As for training, if you were bidding in your example of your training event, you would bid your normal Monday through Thursday line. After you are awarded that line, they would drop one of those trips and replace it with four days of training AND pay protect you for the value of the original trip and therefore protect the original line value of your awarded line.
I honestly don't see how your PBS is more flexible or better for us as it is now.
Originally Posted by
oldcarpilot
Its not a 5 day event. Only 4. He was saying that they may DH you to the place where the sims are a day early. ASA can't build 5 day "trips" either, but nothing in there about it having to do with training. Does it specifically say they can't build 5 day ANYTHING at XJT?
Nothing can be built to 5 days. I think they can build reserve line with more than 4 consecutive days of reserve. At XJT, they cannot force you to train on days off. So DH on the day before or after is the problem at XJT. We can volunteer to train on days of but its paid at 150%.