The purple days are the days that the stack was dumped on someones line AKA "unstacked".

 

keep your spirits high and your standards low. Helps with blood pressure and saves money on weekends at the bar.

 

As a rather jr pilot (>70%) I was pleasantly surprised with my schedule. Got a line with pretty much what I wanted. Also I was surprised how far down the list the jr line holder was.

 

I am also about 70%, but as a commuter stacking up multiple trips with it has been a complete disaster.

 

That kind of thing usually works well with PBS, get somebody to look at your bid.

Unless you're also shooting for high-credit, weekday only, HI or PVR layovers.

 

So just some data mining from the results for the base I pay attention to on the Captain side: 64% of the reserve pilots were unstacked for May. 37 pilots on reserve were not. 67 pilots on reserve were unstacked. I think this will become a much bigger issue for the pilot group for July. If the average line value is increased by managment and we see closer to 85+2 hours things could get ugly. It is a holiday month. In addition the majoirty of the block hour increase will be red eye flights. In SEA most of those trips will be ANC or FAI red eye turns and short backs to the east coast. Very few people are talking about this or like you are just outright dismissing it. It is my opinion that July will be a wake up call for many, depending on the ALV and how much the better than 50% pilots want to fly of course.

I chose CA SEA since it is our biggest base and most pilots would like to upgrade at some point.

 

On the FO SEA side:

28 FOs were not unstacked. 69 were.

71% of FOs were unstacked in Seattle.

 

I speak only for LA CA, but assume other bases are similar. Line bidding, we had 50-65 reserves and line holders who could bid and hold 75-90 hrs inside step trading, more with vacation and/or training. So more pay for line holders, and more reserves at 75 or 79 hr guarantee.


Now?

43 rsvs. The additional pilots have lines, but now all line holders (except a select few who were able to max out) are holding overwhelmingly in the 70-80 hrs credit.


End result? More pilots on lower paying lines, less overall reserves, and less people they have to pay 79 hrs to sit around. PBS seems to have saved the company some money.

 

I'm not here to start a PBS vs. line bidding argument. It's water under the bridge now.
Historically, PBS was negotiated and implemented during concessionary times. Airline management's wet deream, indeed. Years prior to acquiring VX, Alaska management told the pilot group that PBS would require approximately 10% less pilots.

 

Let's wait and see if the lifestyle crowd can unload their trips to the money crowd.