flyinghedgehog

So SAP seems to be amazing, just want to verify if I understand how it works correctly.


Do you get to just drop 65 hours , regardless of whether those are picked up or not, and just pick up stuff without having to meet minimum block or credit or duty hour or whatever per month?


How long of a period are you given to drop and add stuff ? (just 24 hours?)


Are there two rounds or just one? (I mean, rounds of dropping stuff and adding stuff.....)


Anything else I should know about it?


Thanks!

Slow2Final

Overall schedule bidding occurs in two "rounds", round 1, and round 2 (often times stylized as RD1/RD2). Round one will have X amount of lines for pilots of a certain base and seat (the exact number depends on the month). If you are awarded a round one line, you would eligible to "SAP" (to take part in the schedule adjustment period). Captains go first, FOs after them.

SAP covers a 24-hour period where any and all trade requests are processed first-come, first-served. Biggest rules being that you can't drop below 65 credit hours for that month, and you can't do anything that would create contract/legal violations (duty issues, etc). So if you are awarded a 4 day trip that's not commutable and you commute to base, you can swap it for any other trip that is legal to put on your schedule, even if it means gaining days off, or losing credit (respecting the 65 rule).

What this tends to mean for people, is that they can mostly build the schedule that they want, regardless of what they were awarded. Some people get exactly what they want right in the initial award, and others have been known to move their entire month around, not keeping a single original trip they were awarded.

The benefit of all of this is that you don't have to worry about whether or not that day has enough staffing. If the trade is legal, it should go through. This is because, whatever is left over after this period of trades, now gets built up into more lines, that are then awarded during the round 2 bid. Theoretically if people drop tons of flying in round one, there would be more round two lines, and vice versa.

Thedude86

I can’t lie, SAP is an awesome tool. It’s great if you need specific days off. Lately though it’s been a love/hate relationship since the trades take forrrrreverrr to process now. I compare it to golf. It’s fun to play, but it will drive you crazy.

When you first start SAPping and if you want to fly the minimum of 65 hours you’ll be able to get 16-17 days off. Once you know the game you should be able to get 18 sometimes 19 days off. I’ve gotten close to 20 but it hasn’t happened yet.

Just be prepared that there will likely be changes coming when we go to PBS which I think will be here before the end of the year. I’ve heard rumors that the company wants to put restrictions on SAP based on holidays and to start incorporating the reserve grid. If this happens our SAP will essentially be no different than what you can do with your schedule at any other airline. Not to mention 18 days off at most other places will give you 75-85 hours of credit compared to just 65 hours at PSA.

WhiteMorpheus

The SAP system operates "in real time," however, the usefulness is somewhat reduced due to the server not being able to process all the requests we throw at it in "real time."

Requests made immediately (within the first minute of the SAP period) will take up to about 45 minites to process and the times get worse the further in to the SAP period you get.

What you end up with is an exercise in frustration as you spend 24 hours trying to make one little change to your schedule. Also, you need to be sure that you're off or on a break right when the SAP opens, otherwise you miss most of the good stuff.

If/when the system works in a timely fashion, SAP is great. It went much smoother in November and December when less people were moving things around to avoid losing their holiday pay due to our poorly written holiday pay agreement.