Drone

Anyone know how long PB days show up on Time Card or bank after the GS has been flown? If they don't will a call to scheduling work. Thanks in advance.

crewdawg

PB days should be applied to your reserve days or put in the bank within a few minutes of being awarded the GS. If not, call scheduling and tell them it needs corrected. Lately, I just assume they'll screw it up and prepared to make the call. If they don't pickup after 5 min on hold, I just used the crew assist app and have them pass word to scheduling.

DWC CAP10 USAF

Of my last few, PB days have showed up within minutes of accepting. I’ve only had to call crew scheduling twice in the last few months.

tennisguru

Just to be clear, technically PB days do not have to be put on your schedule/bank till the end of the trip. Having said that, common practice has been that whoever puts the trip on your schedule just does the PB days right then since it’s just easier.

Herkflyr

How it SHOULD work:

1. When awarded a reserve GS, PB days are immediately placed on your schedule based on your awarded trip.
2. After the trip is over, a nifty little software module/subroutine does a few if/then comparisons (just like it already does for "minutes under" and about every other rotation calculations), and automatically adjusts the PB/PR days as spelled out in the contract. These could change a little bit (one time I arrived an hour late and the start of my PB days had to be delayed by an hour) or a lot (originally awarded 4-day reserve GS ends up only being a 2-day trip after all is said and done; the pilot will then get PB days based only on the final trip as flown, not the original longer trip awarded).

How it ACTUALLY works:

1. When the trip is awarded, the scheduler may or may not place the PB days on your schedule.
2. There is NO "software subroutine" that automatically adjusts your PB days to account for how your trip was actually flown. Scheduling has to do this manually. I actually talked to a supervisor about that. I was very surprised to find out that it is a a completely manual process. She sounded very flustered and told me "we have repeatedly asked for software improvements to do exactly that, and we are shot down every time."

Scheduling frequently fails to update your PB days correctly. I've had to call them for updates both minor and major. I don't even get upset about it any more--it is just something you will likely have to do.

Would a software module that automated this process be hugely beneficial both to scheduling and the pilot group? Why, yes it would. And yet the company refuses to do so. That should tell you a lot.

FangsF15

As frustrating as it is, I like the system as it is. Yes, it requires a little effort, but sometimes it works in your favor. For example, if you have a GS that releases just after 1500, getting that PR on your schedule can protect you if you block in early. Thankfully, they don’t then go back and correct the PR to the day before. When rolling thunder, this equates to protecting an entire extra day off.

tennisguru

Also the current system is great if you get rerouted/extended into another day that was originally a LC day but was changed to a PB day when the trip was awarded. Instead of losing lots of pay towards res guarantee you get full extra pay plus I've landed an additional PB day for working into what is now anther day off.

Herkflyr

I don't want to come across as a know-it-all, but you all are misunderstanding the application of PB/PR days--as I also misunderstood for quite awhile. It can get rather confusing. Some corrections.

Minutes under don't count against you. My example of a 4-day-become-2-day was an example of a reroute. Merely blocking in 15 minutes early on your final day means nothing in terms of PB days. You always "fill in" the minutes under, then see what your actual block/release is. The later of all those times, plus 9 hours, is when PB days start--or to state another way, when your violated X days now begin.

When awarded a reserve GS, your PB days are usually immediately posted on your schedule. These are merely "placeholder" PB days, assuming you fly the trip as it was constructed when awarded. After you finish your trip, the PB days are/should be updated, reflecting the trip as actually flown, as if that were your original trip award to being with! (important) Minutes under don't count against you. Arriving late, however, will ensure that your PB days start and end later. Here's a couple of examples to make my point.

1. Pilot is awarded 3-day reserve GS, scheduled to block in at 1300. Add 30 minutes for a formal release at 1330, add nine hours, and your X days immediately begin at 2230 on day 3. If you block in 10 minutes early on your last leg, your X days still begin at 2230. You aren't punished for the early arrival.

2. On the other hand, if for whatever reason you arrive at 1350, 50 minutes late, then your PB days won't begin until 2320 on day 3.

3. Now let's take this same 3-day and now it becomes a 2-day due to a reroute. Let's say the original trip had a MCO layover on day two, then on day three was scheduled to fly MCO-LGA-ATL, end of trip. Now on day two, crew tracking tells the pilot that upon arrival in MCO, he will now fly right back to ATL, arriving at 2000, end of trip.. PB days now begin at 0530 on day 3, reflecting 9+30 hours from 2000. (as if that 2-day were the trip he was assigned to begin with). That is not the same as a "minutes under" early arrival.


But beyond all THAT, the most common misperception among a lot of pilots (myself included for a long time) is the idea that blocking in after 1430 (thus a release + 9 hours that takes you to the next calendar day, thus a whole other PB day) somehow gives you an extra 24 hours off. It does not...UNLESS....you have no more on call days remaining in the month. In that case, your partial PB day, designated as a PR day, truly does become an entire PB day in your PB day bank. But any other time in the month, releasing at 1515 vs 1445 merely means that your PB days begin 30 minutes later. Yes, you do get "another" PB day, but you also have one fewer x day remaining. That is the critical understanding that took me awhile to figure out!

I don't think that getting rerouted into a LC day should get you an extra PB day--but I have no doubt that that happens all the time! If the company can't figure it out then enjoy the windfall. I admit that I could be wrong here.

DWC CAP10 USAF

Herk posted great info!

For those reading along, in his #2 scenario above, the start/end time of your PB/PR series WILL NOT get updated automatically just because you released later than planned. You MUST call scheduler to have the times manually updated.

contrails

I'm an experienced fellow reserve rolling thunder pilot and everything you wrote checks out but just wondering if anyone has an actual line in the PWA to point to for the above quoted portion of all this.