So what poster below said isn't true in response to how a junior pilot could end up with something better than a pilot more senior?

 

It is true. Senior pilot= no vacation in summer required to have 4 4days to make a schedule. Junior pilot=with vacation on average only needs 2 4days to meet the vacation low minimum. All things being equal with both not having vacation then they both would have been on reserve since there were not enough trips remaining to make a full month and the trips drop into open time.

 

As stated, I think there are easy solutions to #3 and #4. As for the vacation conflict, I think the only fair way to get rid of it is to stop awarding lines when the first pilot is involuntarily awarded reserve. Not sure where you see propaganda in my post - I like flight line's PBS but I am also open to tweaks to make it better. I was also open to Smart Pref, but again, it needs tweaks to make it better.

I also left out the #1 reason that someone junior gets a better schedule and the #1 reason I have found that most pilots in our system complain about their awarded schedule - the pilot bidding did screwed up their bid!

The only time Flight Line truly uses globalization is when unstacking is utilized and then only for the bottom 50% of the pilots bidding. As was stated previously, the software does not look down line and award trips out of seniority for the greater good of the company, the software deals with each pilot in order and awards them what they can hold.

 

That's funny, because as I said, the most adamant cheerleaders SWEAR it doesn't use globalization of ANY kind.

The below was asked, and you answered with what I put below that. So the question is, will it withhold a trip from a senior pilot when a junior pilot has vacation or training so the junior pilot can meet the credit window? Is the senior pilot being denied a specific pairing and is it being awarded to a junior pilot in those cases.

 

No. The system has no idea what anyone junior to the pilot whose schedule is currently being built is doing. It tries to build a pilot's schedule with the available pairings -- if it meets the threshold then his line is complete and his schedule is closed and the systems moves on to the guy one number junior to him. If the system is unable to build a line that meets the minimum credit threshold, then he is assigned reserve and the system moves on to the guy one number junior to him. Nothing anyone junior to him does has any bearing on his schedule.

It is possible, and I think it happens every month, that a junior person that has vacation is able to reach the threshold and hold a regular line while a senior person who did not have vacation was not able to reach the threshold and is assigned reserve. But again, when the system is building someone's schedule, it has no idea what the people junior to that pilot are doing until that person's schedule is complete and closed and the system moves on.

 

So why should a pilot that is senior enough to hold a line EVER be forced into reserve? Let alone under the sh1tty reserve rules the CRJ contract has.

Under ERJ line bid, the ONLY way a line holder gets reserve is if they voluntarily bid it.

Doesn't really sound like the CRJ PBS is 100% seniority based, contrary to what some say.

And sorry, but what you're saying seems slightly contrary to what the other poster is saying with the examples he gave and the various scenarios.

 

When discussing people being put on reserve we are talking about the last 15% of the seniority list. No REAL seniority there. In most cases they would not have held a line anyways.

 

They get reserve because their seniority can't hold a line. Plain and simple. By the time PBS gets to them there aren't enough pairings/credit available to make a line. Therefore they are assigned reserve.

 

That's just the point. The pilot isn't senior enough to hold a line. PBS is a giant pool of pairings. When it gets to said pilot's seniority it tries to build a schedule. Let's say there are 3 pairings remaining in the big giant pool that began with #1 pilot. If a pilot needs 4 four day trips to complete a schedule and only 3 pairings remain in the pool then he is assigned reserve. PBS moves to the next guy in line. Let's say this guy has vacation, bids vacation low, and only needs 2 four day trips to meet the credit threshold. There are 3 pairings remaining and PBS places two on his schedule and calls his schedule complete.

A junior pilot got a line while a more senior pilot got reserve. It's not globalization, it's not dishonoring seniority. The more senior pilot couldn't hold a line regardless if the next guy has vacation or not. If nobody junior to the original reserve pilot had vacation or preassigned credit then everyone junior would also be on reserve and the 3 remaining pairings would be in open time. I don't understand the mentality that says if I suffer then everybody junior must suffer with me. The pilot just wasn't senior enough to hold a line. Period.

 

..........