Let's talk PBS Training
 

Alright, this is probably not going to work the way I want, but I'm gonna give it a try. It corresponds with a project I'm finishing up and needs outside (i.e. line pilot) input.

Looking for information, and let's break it down into two sections. Feel free to answer on the forum, send me a PM, or email me.

1. Info Gathering.
2. Suggestions.

Info Gathering.
1. How did you learn to use PBS?
2. Have you ever met with me during one of the crewroom visits?
2A. If so, was it helpful?
3. Have you read ANY of the training material either on the website or the PBS user guide within the software?
3A. If not, why not?
4. On a scale of 1 - 10 how comfortable do you feel using the software?

Suggestions. Looking for an answer to some of these questions.
1. What do you feel is a good way to learn the software? / How would you like to see it explained?
2. What topics do you feel are essential to be covered in training material?
3. What topics do you feel are not well understood by the general line pilot?
4. Any other suggestions you might have on assisting pilots in understanding and utilizing the software?

Info Gathering.
1. How did you learn to use PBS?

By reading the Navtech bidder guide PDFs found via Google search - not Mesa-specific so probably not totally correct.

2. Have you ever met with me during one of the crewroom visits?

No.

2A. If so, was it helpful?
3. Have you read ANY of the training material either on the website or the PBS user guide within the software?

Yes.

3A. If not, why not?
4. On a scale of 1 - 10 how comfortable do you feel using the software?

9

Suggestions. Looking for an answer to some of these questions.
1. What do you feel is a good way to learn the software? / How would you like to see it explained?

Read the manual and figure it out. If explained, then done by example, i.e, "I want to do X, show me how I would do that."

2. What topics do you feel are essential to be covered in training material?

How the different conditional statements work.

3. What topics do you feel are not well understood by the general line pilot?

How the different conditional statements work.

4. Any other suggestions you might have on assisting pilots in understanding and utilizing the software?

Does software exist that would show a hypothetical result instantly based on bidding changes? A "PBS sandbox"?

SmartPref

(filler)

After screwing up an early bid, someone told me to email you and you got me going the next month. Thanks again. After that I had a template that slowly evolved. Then a few months later, I went through the whole manual on a super long sit. Went from about 70% understanding to 98%.

This isn't really a training suggestion, but I still think there should be a Max Days Off option. You might have said it assumes that for everybody, but Award Min Credit doesn't necessarily do the same thing.

I thought you got hired at Delta.

No such luck.

MAGPBS,

I am not happy what PBS has done to my schedule for October.

First, I have 4 trips that are titled "Coverage Awards". Am I right that these trips are not what I was bidding for?

Second, the minimum window threshold is set to "78 HOURS". I though our minimum schedule hours are 76 hours. Did I miss something?

Instead of a 76 hour schedule, I have a 96 hour one, screwing with my vacation time. This happened one time when PBS awarded trips while unstacking.

Well, without looking at your bid I can't comment specifically. But I can comment generically.

1. Go look at the numbers I put up in the Mesa Scheduling section. I think that will go a long way to explaining why coverage awards have been increasing.

2. Contractual min guarantee is not the same as minimum credit required for a line. So yes, 78 can be set as the minimum line value as long as it's posted on the info page when PBS opens. Which it was.

Shouldn't the October schedule be up on Flica by now?

Sap is noon phx on the 20th. That's when flica turns on.

They're in the pbs software. Should be in crewweb also (haven't looked myself).

Yes, I already saw my schedule on the PBS awards. But if I remember correctly they were posted on Flica for ease of viewing before the SAP along with the open time. The new timeline says they should have been published yesterday at 1200PHX.

Flica has always posted the day SAP opens. Sometimes a few minutes before, sometimes a few hours before.

The timeline requires that PBS results be published in PBS by the Noon on the 19th. Which it was. There's no stipulation that it also has to be in any of the other software packages.

SAP goes live today (20th) at noon and Flica will have schedules then.

Yes, I saw it posted yesterday everywhere except Flica. I must have gotten confused. I remember seeing my schedule on Flica waiting for the SAP to open, hence the schedule posted on Flica before the SAP under the old timeline. Just wanted to clarify and make sure that everything is going according to the new timeline. Thank you,

There didn't use to be a gap between PBS required awards and SAP starting. The new timeline has a 24 hour delay built in so any issues can be resolved before SAP opens.

Also, SAP/FLICA is run by a different division within the company. That falls under Crew Line vs PBS is Crew Planning. Crew Line has to wait from Planning to load everything before they can do their part.

Am I looking at this correctly, every pairing for every FO was assigned for coverage in one of the bases? I thought unstacking was to be used from the bottom up by seniority, as necessary, not as a wholesale method of ignoring what pilots "prefer" and cramming every hour of flying on everbody's schedule and leaving little to nothing in opentime.

Same $hit happened to me on the captain side.

No you're not. Only about 50% of the FO's in IAH got unstacked.

Now on the Captain side, different story. Basically it's 100% and still have almost 700 hours uncovered.

Let's talk PBS Training
 

Not referring to IAH you're one letter off, all purple instead of teal.

Went back and re-read. You don't mention a base specifically, you are right. Think I based it off the comment that followed.

DFW FO, IAD FO, and for the most part IAH CA all saw total unstacking.

DFW CA & PHX FO both saw targetted unstacking, but up to the #1 person.

:eek:BOHICA! :eek: