Wish I knew if my category had coverage awards. ATL320B...

 

Oddly, I'm in the same boat. The wide report for my category disappeared. Here's hoping they rerun the bids with better coverage award logic.
I guess that's what I get for looking before the DALPA Textcaster alert.

 

Last month I could see my schedule in MiCrew before I could see it on Deltanet. Odd that it is late again.

 

Did anyone else not get texts from ALPA when the preliminary awards were available?

 

I received the LAX73NA re-run texts and the A awards are posted text, but haven't received anything since. I don't think they sent the B text yet.

 

It’s truly one of the great mysteries with PBS. I’ve had it explained several times and it still makes no sense to me. But..,
The line and reserve coverage awards are not tied to each other. In my category reserve coverage awards happen much more often then line coverage awards. In a previous category it was just the opposite.
On reserve lines, the coverage awards often seem completely out of whack with reserves required. In July of 2019 my category had 26 of 28 reserve lines get a coverage award for a non holiday Sunday. Once the schedules were pushed too Icrew the reserves required for that day were In the low teens. The good news with that is you can often move that reserve day once the PCS process starts if you are senior enough.

 

That is an excellent question. I wish I knew a better answer. I know that there have been a couple of good replies to you. Absent a better one, I have also been burned in the past, and took these pointers to heart:

1. Never assume that "reserve is junior." Yes, it has been that way traditionally throughout the industry, and at DAL. But depending on the category it in fact may go quite senior. Therefore never assume "hey I know I can get those days off as a regular lineholder, so it naturally follows that I will also be able to get those same days off on reserve."

2. Always understand that reserve and regular bid groups are two unrelated entities. How one group pans out doesn't really predict how the other one does. Evidently, seniority and all its considerations only apply within the bid group types, not the entire category.

3. Always "hope for the best and plan for the worst." If you are going to start with a reserve bid group (like I did for Dec) always preface any Vacation Slide and Prefer Off preference with "Else Start Next Bid Group." After getting similarly burned by not putting that qualifier in a year ago, I learned my lesson for the Super Bowl (which I believe was Feb 6). I started with a reserve bid group, put in "Prefer Off Feb 6, Else Start Next Bid Group." Guess what? I got a regular line, but with Feb 6 off, while guys senior to me with reserve lines were Coveraged/Unstacked into an on call day on Feb 6.

4. I am not happy with how senior the Coverage awards are going up the reserve schedules--at all. I'd like to see a good answer from the company and union, because I don't think that the extent you have described is appropriate. Until then, however, always heed points 1-3.

 

Don't have access to a civilian computer right now and my phone keyboard is jacked up, so I apologize in advance, but I'll keep it short. Bottom line, coverage isn't about "spreading out flying," as much as it ensuring they can cover the trips with reserves available. I bet if you looked in your reasons report, alot of people bidding for lines didn't attach an "else start next" or "clear schedule start next," to their final line bid. I'd also wager that there were a few trips awarded over the holidays in the senior part of your cateogry, which could also help alleviate line holder coverage. If a bunch of people are awarded trips on, or near, Christmas because they didn't have an ESN or CSSN, then there was likely no need for coverage. OR there was a screw up, either way I'd submit a bid inquiry and see what comes back.



This is mostly true. Everyone has the right to bid a line or reserve and that is honored in seniority order. You're bid will always be honored in seniority order, it just might not be what you intended. This part needs to be better, you shouldn't have to be a subject matter expert on this stuff to bid. But if you bypass a line, then you have to know that you may be subject to coverage when junior folks thay have lines may not. I play the reserve game and understand this...I advocate to get our pwa changed, but for now I play the within the lane I'm given.



This!


Ya man, take that up with our union. It's our own crappy rules wrt to PBS line generation. If you dig in the PWA (12.M.5) you'll see that in many categories, for reserve, each day is only required to be available as an X-day once! That means the number 2 guy on reserve could be forced onto coverage...and in extreme situations, so could the number one reserve bidder. For line holders the highest it can go is 75% (50% during holiday months) of the total line holders for the month. These won't change until people stop taking the "reserve is a choice" mentality wrt to bettering our reserve work rules. As a home based, chronic reserve bidder, I'm with you both on this.

 

This is worth repeating.

The company also has complete freedom to max out coverage every month regardless of need. Said another way, they can force all 75% of reserves onto days that are already over staffed. So you'll look at the reserve numbers and see huge over staffing on days marked as needing coverage by the company.

And with how difficult it is to manipulate RSV days, you can't easily move off those over staffed days.

Reserve rules certainly need some work.

 

If you want a great example of how “weird” reserve coverage awards can be look at MSP 73N A for November. From the 5th most senior Pilot in category, the second most senior reserve, all were forced into coverage.

Scoop