Tday and Xmas off. 3 25hr 4days a month... nov and dec were pretty good to for me!

 

Ive said it before and Ill say it again. How can you knock it and you havnt even tried it?? This PBS system is different from the ones you are used to. And we have an open time window after the schedules come out, so this whole being stuck with what you get, is simply not true.
AGAIN, from what I can tell, the "legacy" expressjet guys on here are making it seem like no one ever works weekends or holidays with their system. NO ONE. Who works your schedules during that time? I dont get it. As bad as it is, JUNIOUR guys typically work the unwanted trips. THATS WHY THEY ARE JUNIOR. We have all been there. It is part of the seniority system. You dont put in X amount of years at a company to work weekends and holiday (or whatever the case may be).
I for one am a BIG fan of PBS. I have had a large improvement in my QOL since we got it. With that said, I have not tried the legacy expressjet system. So I cant knock it at all. In fact, I know NOTHING about it. All I can comment about is PBS, because that is what I know. I request some of you do the same.

 

First off, I use PBS and have a totally different opinion than you do. Lets just say my QOL and schedule was WAAAYYY better when we did line bidding. And 60% of the people I talk to say the same thing. Of course I don't talk to everyone, so that isn't the most accurate statement.

Secondly, from the words of the Monday night countdown, C'mon Man! If you are going to try and promote PBS, at least be truthful and straight forward. Yes, there is an open time window initially and also daily. However, the truth is that initially there may be literally THREE trips in it. Then it turns into one crappy modified trip over the holidays. This is pretty accurate and not opinion. At least from what I can see on the 700 in ATL. DTW has about 4 day line trips in it for the whole month of January as well. Good luck trying to trade for one. Failed everytime unless you have something better to drop in the bucket. I can't imagine the 200 has some amazing number of open time that I cannot see. Especially with a displacement coming. Just wanted to clarify that.

 

Afterburn is correct, there is no open time on the 200 f/o side in ATL. When the lines came out there were maybe 3 day lines. Now there is 1 crappy day line with 1 leg, a 4 hour sit and then 1 leg back to base. Difficult to adjust schedule after lines come out.

 

I've been at XJT since June last year. This month is the first month I've held any kind of line. I was awarded a relief line, which is made up of all the crap nobody else really wants. I was initially awarded three 4 days and two 3 days with a total line value of 78 hours. Using our system and the SLIW I managed to trade that to a 101 hour line with just two four days, a three day, a two day and a couple of day trips. I now have three weekends off this month too. This month there were 51 relief lines in my base and I was awarded number 45. So I am about as close to the bottom of the line holders as you can get and I still get the schedule I want with our system. Thus I am a big fan of our system, and I'd like to keep it.

I have also flown under PBS at a previous airline. What many XJT guys fail to understand is that it is the contract language that controls the schedules, not the system used to award the bids. HOWEVER, with PBS I used to find that generally what you were awarded was what you were stuck with, and it was often very hit and miss.

 

Why does every ASA thread turn into a PBS debate? This thread is about furlough or lack there of discussion but it seems to have been hijacked.

 

Yup, looks like you know how everything works then...

 

Just to add, no system will give every pilot everything they want. Having the opportunity to improve is not a bad thing. Doesn't take much time at all. On this side, we are about to try the compromise we suggested for the joint contract. Hopefully we can get the other side to agree on getting the best of both systems and "get on board."

Is this the open time that is left over after your PBS has assigned your trips? How much open is that? Because in our SLIW (your PBS open time equivalent) there isn't that much and they are currently working on eliminating most open time wit this PBS we are going to start using.

As for no one working weekends and holidays, we are talking about line holders only. Because only line holders participate in the ILIW. Generally, unless you wan to work weekends or holidays (like me), then most line holders can get those days off in the ILIW. The relief and reserve pilots end up working all weekends and holidays.

 

Thank you for the intelligent and informative post. Good info on the relief line stuff.

 

I'm surprised ASA isn't furloughing, considering ALPA signed away our 2007 contract, and is allowing 129 (ASA and XJT) aircraft to transition to Skywest.

But hey, at least you can interview for a position there.