This is the rub. Once you're senior enough to hold 2 leg days, the inevitable 1-2, that you think is great ends up with LAX-PHX, sit 3 hrs. PHX-home.

One key to somewhat cracking the code is early sign-ins if you can do it. When your duty is chopped to 12 or even a 0459 sign in or earlier cuts flying to 8, the optimizer has less wiggle and youll find some nice 1-2s, 2-2s. 1.45 or less of ground, lend themselves to less soft and higher/hard time trips, longer legs.

Just a minor tip if you can deal with the earlies.

Especially annoying to see layers in the software just sitting there, unused.

NavBlue would solve many of the PBS issues we have with this janky version we use. Unfortunately the only way we get a real PBS system is through section 6, and im guessing the company would price it very high

Yeah, this is the worst PBS system I’ve had. 90s tech with terrible filtering. The whole layer concept is garbage.

The latest survey from the union asks if we would like more layers at the expense of longer processing times, which are already worst in the industry. Bidding should open on the 1st of the month.

Bizarre my schedule doesn't exist for next month until 2/3 of the way through the current month.

Haha. And yet other airlines manage to use a much deeper bidding system and get lines out earlier than AA currently does.

our actual processing time is shorter than most the problem you’re talking about is bidding doesn’t close until the 13th. Most others are around the 10th so we are just starting later.

if all else stayed the same but bidding closed on the 5th we’d have a schedule by the 8th.

I'm not picking up how more layers would add processing time. It's a computer. The schedules are likely spit out in seconds or less. The "processing time" as I understand it is after the PBS solution has happened. It's the company manually changing things for training/planned absences/IMAX etc.

Why would more layers affect this?

Seriously. I’m starting to see people from my hiring class upgrade and I won’t be able to until I can know my schedule a little earlier for life stuff, so I have to stick to my semi-senior line. I’d be cool with resigning to plug reserve but not knowing what days I’m working until AT LEAST the 16th no matter what is lame. Needing longer processing times for more layers in a world where my phone can turn red hot and generate a picture of a cat paddling a canoe in 5 seconds is just bologna, sorry I don’t buy it.