Its only "forced" into the bank when there are no other places to put it that month. That wouldn't change.

What some are advocating for would absolutely crush rolling thunder. The company would happily agree to it instantly. Banked days, while they can be a good tool for sure, are much better for the company than forced PB days on the next available reserve day because a banked day can only be used if staffing permits. The forced slide OTOH still goes there no matter how severely understaffed they are. That's how thunder rolls, both for the user as well as generating it for others. Also, banked PR days (even as little as one minute) become full PB days. There's no way they'd allow a partial on a RES day to be able to bank as a full. So we'd lose even more there.

Messing with this would be a horrible idea.

This is correct. It is not a calendar day, it is "a period of 24 hours free of duty."

its an option that only pilot could use. So they woild be able to use it on res days no different than now, OR they can elect to use for future date.

but as someone said, it could be too expensive. I thought it could be great to have as many PB days as possible and use them at your discretion.

Run yourself hot then. Either all month or even just at the end of a month. Easy peasy. No reason to mess with the system that becomes a premium pay feedback loop. Going from the current system to an additional quantity of days only useable when staffing permits would be a significant net loss for the group all the time for tiny individual gains only on rare occasions.

Use your extra pay to drop whatever days you would have dropped. This is one aspect of the system that does not need changing.

That should be required reading

Giving us the option to bank would be a win/win for us and the company. It gives us the flexibility to bank if we don't want the RSV days off, while maintaining the current system if we do. For every pilot that banks a day, the company wins by not needing to grant a day off that is potentially understaffed.

Having an automated pop up that says when do you want your PB day either next reserve day or bank PB day would be great. I’m not holding my breathe though because about a third of the time I have to call scheduling to remind them to give me my PB day so...

And another third of the time you have to call and get an incorrect pb/pr fixed.

That's my point. Then fewer GS go out. The current system should not be messed with. Doing so would lower the amount of GS overall.

Not everything under the banner of "optional" is good or should be pursued. Allowing pilots to fly on top of vacation is one of the most obvious examples. Heck why not give every pilot the option to waive the entire CBA work rules so they can fly to the FAR's whenever they want? Give pilots the option to put themselves on reserve 30 days a month for extra pay?

There are some options the CBA should prevent. The current GS reserve day system should be preserved.

This is very true. I however would like a way to bank more time off for use at my discretion as opposed to a default of the next reserve day. Or, if PB days are so rare give them the power of an APD or IVD that has reduced reserve requirements. If the company makes me wait to take my entitled off day, then it should be completely at my discretion not just on a day I could drop anyway.