PBS allows the individual pilot to wave contract protections to get a schedule they want. If it don't then the company could build the exact same schedules for everyone and distribute. They efficiency is letting you be happy to wave your contract protections.

 

A little cynical are we?

 

Already have done that in order to get a very important weekend off, and was successful.

 

In my opinion, PSA has the best bidding out of all the contract airlines I'm aware of.

PSA does line bidding, but afterwards has what is called a Schedule Adjustment Period (SAP) where round 1 line holders are able to take trips from their line and trade them away. You can trade even, trade down and work less hours, trade up for more hours, or you can trade down then trade right back up to pick up hours at a premium.

This in theory is great, but it hasn't been working properly the last half of 2015, only recently seen fixes and improvement.

 

why-why-why?????? What could you possibly be trading that for??????

 

That is an interesting way of doing that.

Yes, understanding how the solver works is critical to success.

 

Why am I cynical? How can the PBS computer build any different lines than the hard line computer if it's abiding by the same rules. Don't get me wrong sure the pilot has some wiggle room, but where is the company's savings. Schedules are built by the rules or their not.

 

The savings in the system come down to eliminating interface and preassignment conflicts. So in line bidding you can have a carry out trip for January, but bid a line that starts with a 4 day feb 1. That won't work legally, so you have to carry more pilots to cover it and lose overall productivity. PBS builds around it. With pre assignments such as vacation, training, military, union leaves, Fmla, jury duty, etc... PBS can build a legal line and a full credit (prorated as needed) for the pilot where a line bidding scenario would have conflicts, once again losing productivity and requiring more pilots to cover the same flying.

In the end, a PBS system saves the company significant money. Roughly 10% vs line bidding in end costs.

Big thing comes down to being adequately staffed, having pilot control of the pairings and PBS line construction, and overall contractual rules. If any of those are missing, PBS can be rough on the pilot group. It also really helps to be senior, but everyone is aware of that regardless of PBS or line bidding.

 

That's the exact same way L-XJT has done it since time immemorial except it was called the Initial Line Improvement Window (ILIW). Like you said, a great system in theory. Without any experience with PSA's system, I suspect you run into issues with coverage when trying to drop or trade trips so it's not exactly an anything goes free for all.

 

If I were bidding reserve, could I bid all my reserve days in a row. So If I am guaranteed 11 days off a month, could I bed reserve for the first 19 days straight in order to guarantee my time off as 11 consecutive days? Just curious as I have not started with an airline yet.

Second question: I'm in the military and trying to figure how drilling as a reservist will work out. If I take 5 days of military leave, and normally I'm guaranteed 75 hours a month. Will I get a schedule that is 5 days shorter and thus prorated for less hours per month of pay? If so, I'm thinking of clumping my days off together so I can drill then and not lose pay from the company.