mesteve

Cool, so there is still a good bit of control (read as preference, lol) over your schedule.

MtnFlying

I'd say the last two bids have turned me from skeptical to just a little above that...lol! I did get the 2 weekend days off I requested in September, so I guess it's working...

TCASfail

this new system is not good. Before I was able to bid actual lines with 10-12 days off. This new system will put you on for 17-18 days a month. And on top of that, they email me every week if I could extend my rotation another day 1.5x daily rate. I don’t see how this will retain pilots. I’m close to red label upgrade but I feel bad for any FO/Phenom CA that is being ram rodded with 18 days a month under the guise of a “flexible” bid system.

followingdreams

I agree, the new system is WAY worse than the old system where at least you had visibility and could pick 300+ lines that give you the days off you need/want. The new system has ZERO visibility and, quite frankly, I dont see any evidence the prefrences are being respected. I think pilots were giving the new system a chance but based on what I am hearing, if Flex had a pilot retention problem before, it is getting ready to accelerate without any changes being made.

Halpilot

This is really disappointing to hear. I based a lot of my decision to accept a job with Flexjet on how this "new and improved" PBS was represented at the initial Flexjet presentation. How long has this new system been operational? Is the company accepting feedback and working on fine tuning it? In my experience, there is a painful initial period where pilots have to learn the system and the system has to be tweaked. Really hoping they figure this out. Being able to have some control of days off is critical for just about everyone.

AA717driver

Well, the rest of the story is my friend is on the Challenger. His Captains are on a different bidding system. Phenom crews and DRL SIC’s are the only ones on Flexbid.

The company is really trying to improve the QOL, IMO.

ETA: Just saw the comments above. This will not help their staffing issues.

TCASfail

Consider the 8/6 instead of the flex bid. If you do flexbid, I’m sure by the time you start there will be strategies in place to get what you want. But right now it assigns people greater than 16 days which is not industry standard.
Also red label captains do not use a bidding system at all.

flyitfast

Is there no limit you can select for days on? 17-18 days on forced is horrible. Is this one of those L$ "You have to call in sick if you don't want that" situations?

Brooklyn99

Just dropping my anecdote that the new FlexBid hasn't been good to me yet. Hopefully gets better next round, but so far the algorithm hasn't shown any awareness of my top preference (or any of the others actually).

"L$" hahahahaha. IYKYK lol

Halpilot

No idea what L$ means, but I am really bummed out to hear that the much hyped "new and improved" Flexbid, isn't living up to the description I was given. Is this a third party app., or is it entirely proprietary? Are you folks that are giving it a thumbs down pretty junior? Do you feel like the new system is not honoring seniority as well as the old system? The only PBS systems I've used, were driven purely by seniority. As it was explained to me, a lack of seniority, or a bad case of juniority, means you have to be realistic about what you wish for, and what you get. Is the company soliciting feedback and promising improvements based on feedback? Anyone heard any Flexjet projections on hiring and expansion in 2024? I imagine if they continue to lose pilots to the legacy carriers, they will have to address widespread unhappiness with Flexbid's performance.