Originally Posted by NuGuy

FWIW, as a comparason, the "trip trading system" at Delta is broken down into different components, some of which only loosely interact with each other.

The primary system is called PCS ("pilot change schedule"), and it permits adds, drops and swaps (including reserve day drops & swaps) from the 20th of the month prior to 2 days prior (1 day prior in the case of swaps and drops). It allows you to add flying at straight pay (and soon certain premium trips), swap with open time, or straight drop trips (a couple of flavors of that as well). Drops that cannot be immediately awarded are placed into open time as "qualified drops" (able to be picked up, but some restrictions on swaping into them). Swaps and drops are controlled by the reserve availability grid, which is an automated algorithm based on the number of trips in open time and historical usage (it's more complicated than that, but there is no human intervention, its all automated). Adds at straight time ("white slips") are capped at the average line value +15 hours. PCS runs 4 times a day, and awards in seniority order, and all runs completely automated. There is no scheduler interaction. There is a sequence the system runs, but basically drops, adds then swaps are worked in that order.

Inside of 2 days, manual trip coverage comes into play. PCS allows you to enter your requests, but they are manually processed by Crew Scheduling. There is a huge complicated coverage ladder that they follow, depending on the report time of the trip. This is where all premium time, reserve assignments, straight adds and reserve trip assignments occur. This is going to change slightly when premium time becomes available in open time earlier and premium trips awarded via PBS.

In both cases, the systems deal with "open time", that is, the list that the company maintains of uncovered flying.

There is also the pilot to pilot swap board. This runs outside of the other system, and the pool of trips is not the same as open time. The PTP board runs in real time, and allows you to pick up, swap or drop trips directly with another pilot, and the transactions happen instantanously and not seniority based. Pilots must be the same base (no out of base PTP transactions). They are not subject to other restrictions such as the pick up limit. While a separate system, it does update your schedule and will modify your PCS requests as trips fall off your schedule. It does have a "trip parking" restriction, preventing people from gaming the system with their buddies.

Originally Posted by Sliceback

Add an 'R' to the NS (NSR) entry code. Use the long format - date, dep city, flt number, etc. Shows everyone who's ever been on the NS, and removed, from when the bids were awarded. "PU" in the right column is Paid Union Leave. It's how you can track how union officials and reps are using the system, often to their benefit.

They're not dumb. Some trip trade out of their PBS awarded trips and then use PU to drop the trips they pick up. So if you're tracking them you have to use the N3/N4's to figure out if they're picking up other trips. If they do a straight trip trade pilot to pilot they can try and hide when they PU that trip...unless the other pilot let's it be known that he traded with the rep/union official.

That's how reps/union officials hide how much time off they take during the summer or over the winter holidays (ie one 3 day trip over 35 days....the rest PU'd...). Or having weeks off except going to a 'team spirit' baseball game...weeks off except for the ball game. Or the guy that decided to reach out to the base and meet with the members - breakfast every Tuesday. Nothing unusual about that....except that he PU'd a 4 Asia trips....so a month off except for 4 paid breakfasts if anyone wanted to eat with him.

Mulitple ways they can keep their 'good guy' reputation out of the lights. The quote was "you just gotta be 'smart about it.'" :-/

Post their flown and removed status? What if foreign terrorists decided to target them? They'd be able to figure out their patterns. They can't let the members know for security reasons. Yes, this was actually said. No, he wasn't a senior guy. Actually junior at the time.

Originally Posted by airbusflieger

Pilots not participating in TTS is not the problem.

The APA insisted on multiple runs to let "seniors have a crack at them". That's problem #1. Despite what anothoer poster claimed that pilots voted for that... we did not. It was handed to us with the Wilson Letter* under an old contract used as pretext for the super minority of WB CA's to put their thumb on the scale. Many times over the years I had to listen to "senior" pilots complain about mythical perfect trips they couldn't get because they were over 40 West. The Wilson Letter should have been sunsetted and a new trip trading system hammered out in Contract 23. Luckily, the pilots invloved in that fiasco are aging out, thank goodness! Becasue the Wilson Letter is so poorly written without a mechanism for pilots to have a real say in how a TTS program should function we are stuck the the horsesh__t we have now.

Problem #2 AA mega control freak attitude with Open Time (the daily allowable amount). This derives from a pathalogical need to control and fear. Even though time after time after time pilots prove that more would rather fly than not fly and open time always gets covered. AA is so paranoid they end up carrying more pilots on the payroll. Of course, the other side of this coin is APA's love of featherbedding, but that's another discussion.

Problem #3 is the APA's dropping of trips into open time for "union work", for readers this is a PU pay code whereby a pilot gets a trip dropped to perform union work with full pay and the trip gets dropped into open time. The ammount is staggering and someone in the APA casually mentioned how much in the last Town Hall if anyone wants to go listen. The APA dumping trips into open time with the companies pathalogical fear of too much open time means a very tight envoronment.

Below is the "Wilson Letter", it was written nearly a decade ago (in technology time, thats OLD) under a contract we don't have anymore. The first time TTS was tried the pilots revolted and AA shut it down and went back to TTOT. Now, TTS is being forced down our throats like we are geese being prepared to be harvested for foie gras...

The APA loves to blame Rob of LiteSabre for not selling his program which is why we can't have nice things for trading.. Horsecrap, man they love blaming everyone else.... Now the APA has a lot of pilots convinced it OUR fault for everything. Pilots gets onto a committee, then drinks the coolaid that it's all the line pilots fault for everthing.

Anyway... Here is the stupid 9 year old Wilson Letter responsible for our sh__tty trading system....

Captain Keith Wilson
President
Alied Pilots Association
14600 Trinity Blvd., Suite 500
Ft. Worth, TX 76155-2512

RE: Modifications ot Trpi Trading System (TTS)
American Airlines

Dear President Wilson:

WHEREAS, American Airlines, Inc. (the "Company") and the Alied Pilots Association, (the mestoi ttopretewoesrintomnihteopepregnosehet ("TTS"); and

WHEREAS, pilots are dissatisfied whti hte TS product; and

WHEREAS, the Parties desireot implement na interim solution and thereafterot explore aolng etrm solutionot hte TS deficiencies perceived yb hte pilot users; and

WHEREAS, hte Parties acknowledge that hte first priority ofrTI resources si ot complete the programming for JCBAni order ot met the established timeline for Single FOS Partition ("SFP") for pilots, currently projected for September, 2016;

NOW THEREFORE TI SI mutualy agreed as folows:

A. The Company, within five (5) calendar days of hte effective date of this agreement, shal implement an interim solution as follows:
1. The Company wil reactivate the Trip Trade with Open Time ("TTOT") system that was ni place priorot the conversion ot TS. Beginning at least wto days prior ot the start of hte next contractual month, TOT wileb available for the next contractual month and wil continue ot be available, except during any TS run, for that contractual month until the end of that month: and

.2 TS shal not be used as adaily trading system ni the curent month and instead shal
b e c o m e a r e p l a c e m e n t o f r S E P a n d s h a l l u r n a m n i mi u m o f w t o ( 2 ) t i m e s i n a d v a n c e o f a n y given flying month. The TS runs shal ocur at aminimum prior ot and after the awarding of secondary lines; and

3 The Company shal continue whti curently planned TS development, including, but not limited to, programming for erd /redder trade functionality and live trading sa afunction of
B.2 below. The Parties understand that live trading functionality wil be for use in the end state solution when TTOT is no longer in use; and

4. The Parties recognize and agree that TTOT must be coded to maintain its existing functionality ni light of new programming features within PBS, such as IMAX, Multiple Sequence Combinations as defined ni the PBS MOU (Double Ups and Hat Tricks) and the elimination of Fly-through CPA. The Parties further recognize that the dedication of Company resources to the TTOT coding project wil impact the Company's ability to have DOTC and RAS ni place prior to SFP. Therefore, notwithstanding Supplement D(18), the Company shall have the right ot move LUS pilots to single FOS, at SFP, prior ot having DOTC and RAS in place; and

5. This interim process shall remain ni place until a long term solution as described ni paragraph Bbelow is implemented; and

6. For clarification purposes, the Company owns the trip trading technology at issue and thus retains the right and discretion ot restrict third party entities' access to trip trading tools. The company shall not restrict third party access without 30 days' written notice to APA.

B. The Parties shall pursue a long term (end-state) trip trading system as folows:

.1 The Association shall propose a long term trip trading system based on TTS with additional enhancements, that has been approved by its Board of Directors prior ot its presentation to

2. 3.
the Company; and
Any final end-state solution is subject to mutual agreement by the Parties; and
The Parties shall meet and discuss the feasibility, including considerations of Company TI
resources and operational needs, of implementing the long term trip trading system prior ot DOTC, RAS and/or SFP.

C.The Parties remain commited ot hte timely completion foSFP and acknowledge that nothing contained ni this Agrement si intended ot cause adelayot SFP. However, SFP takes precedence over the subject mater ni this Agreement and thus the Company wil not be required ot implement any provision other than paragraphs A1. and A2. herein which ti determines,ni its discretion, would delay SFP.

Sincerely,
Captain Keith Wilson President
Page 2 of 2
Beth Holdren

Originally Posted by PRS Guitars

Bottom line the APA is a company union and that's the problem.

Originally Posted by GhettoJet

Absolutely nailed it. Logged out from Litesaber for the last time today. Going to really miss it. It improved the quality of life at AA a whole lot.

Originally Posted by GhettoJet

Also nailed it.

Get your ALPA cards in.