Exactly, in over 2 years of being a line holder I have yet to fly a single trip awarded to me and I was/am junior in 2 different bases.

So there is not a single trip you were awarded in more then 24 bidding cycles that you're like "hey, this is a great trip I want to keep it." I guess that is a testament to how bad the pairings are here it AA. I mean it is true, at my Regional we had a lower contractual min day by almost an hour but still credited more per trip then here at AA resulting with more days off as a lineholder. More of a reason we need limits put on the sodimizer next contract cycle.

I 100% agree. Pairings are bad and getting worse by the minute. The top third of the seniority list has decent trips, the rest is real trash. I obviously understand we need to be productive, but the sodomizer has crossed a line and it just pushes every trip to fatigue limits.

If we need to be productive and productive means 3 legs per day (hub turns) then let's do more 2 day trips for people who live in base and prefer being home. Commuters and people who hate their family can do 4 or 5 day trips with a 30 hour somewhere so they are basically doing 2 3-leg 2 days back to back.

Long fatiguing days are ok if they are broken up by rest or days off. The pairing analyzer for CLT shows the most common trip (by a decent margin) is a 3-3-3 3 day which explains why everyone below the top 3rd is trying to trade/drop every trip on their lines.

I'm only recently able to hold a line so new to TTS but this has been my experience. I have a 4 day with 1 day off on either side I'm trying to trade left or right and I haven't been able to drop or trade it.

Expand your horizon, trade it for anything better on any day of the month (unless you need a specific day off). Do that for every garbage trip and eventually the puzzle will start to unlock.

Obviously the more specific days off you 'need' and the higher the length of the trips reduces the solvable permutations. Turning both of the 4 days into 3 days is what I would try first but I don't want long trips. If you do then just try to make it a less onerous 4 day that starts on any other day. Load it all up for every trip you want to improve and wait for a batch run, then check immediately after the run for a real-time trade. Rinse and repeat.

3-3-3 is BS. I agree, make 2 day trips, it’s not that hard to understand. A bad 2 day trip is fine, by the time you realize you’re back home.

Thanks!! I bid to trade for anything that starts on a certain date and another bid for anything that ends on a different specific date. Trying to reduce the number of times I commute and eliminate the off days that I would have to commute on anyway.
my entire schedule was 4 day trips and if I try trading them all at once, I'm afraid that I'll get something worse

This strategy only works if you can trade down. Literally every trip I have is negative on the heat map and errors out when trading real time due to staffing. I had a ballot for all of my 5 and 4 days to trade to anything better any day of the month and it’s all locked up. DFW 320 FO for reference.

Just parameratize the requests to accomplish your objective. That will keep it from giving you a less desirable trip. But be prepared for multiple iterations. It may take several batch runs to get where you want to be. I've even had cases where I was certain I would have to fly a crap trip then 2 days prior in the last possible batch run it traded or dropped. So like most things in life, not giving up is the key.

As Jules is complaining about the board will be red then when you least expect it the trade goes through. That's where proper parameters are key, you don't want a crappy commutable trip turning into a less crappy uncommutable one.