PA Slammer

Could their be a mixed line/reserve?

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Birddog

Where's IAHLarry when you need him?

With virtual bases how would we continue to get our supply of granola bars?

Dogg

Dave Fitzgerald

Virtual Granola bars to go with the base....

awax

The out-of-virtual-base reserves deadheaded in each day to cover potential virtual base sick calls would bring them. Super easy to just put that language into the VB LOA. Because there's no flight operations area, just pick them up from the guy sitting out-of-base-reserve at the gate.

RomeoHotel

I think that it is inevitable that someday we will see our crew staffing equitably spread throughput the U.S.
Someone posted the Boston Consulting Group analysis of crew resource management a while back and it discussed the future of cost savings and gains derived by future IT technology.
PBS is just the tip of the spear.
Each pilot on property has an economic cost and a potential level of productivity. If a commuter spends 8 hours commuting each week and 20 hours flying he/she is limiting their own potential productivity. If the company utilized IT (e.g. virtual bases) to harness some of the lost productivity it becomes an economic gain for the company without having to hire additional pilots...

For those old school thinkers just look at Uber vs. Yellow Cab...
It's pretty impressive to see what software can do....

robthree

Meh... The company doesn't have to buy as many hotel rooms as they used to. Company productivity doesn't change all that much.

Personal productivity goes up about 30% for commuters.

cadetdrivr

It's all pretty awesome until there is a snowflake within 30nm of EWR, an airplane has a totally routine MX writeup, or a pilot gets sick.

Not saying these items can't be managed, but the hangup in the past has been staffing RSV coverage that actually reduces overall staffing. Distributing RSVs to cover distributed pilots is less efficient than having them in large bases.

RomeoHotel

They are beginning to use improved IT technology to manage aircraft and crews during adverse weather and maintenance delays.
As for reserve coverage, we can only speculate without all the data. From a human factors perspective, I would assume that there would be a large reduction in sick/fatigue calls from the commuter population once staffed near their residence. Though short notice sick calls are inevitable and some percentage of staffing would have to be available through coverage or incentive based senior manning.

I imagine that many years ago PBS was the brainchild of a software engineer who understood a need. Once it was developed, packaged and companies could measure future cost savings it became a standard fixture in the industry. The airline industry has a very small margin for profit and cost control is always on the radar. Companies like BCG will always be out there as consultants looking for cutting edge technology. I don't think the question is will it occur. I think the question is when it will occur.

cadetdrivr

I personally don't have the data.

But I do know this was the hangup the last time this concept was suggested by those with the data.

Probe

I am not sure that you have ever looked at a map of where the population densities are. They are not "evenly spread" around the country. They are clumped around the southwest and northeast coasts.........ta DAH!!!!!! Approximately where UAL, DAL, and AMR have most of their hubs. With a few connecting hubs thrown in at various medium/large cities in the interior.

We are already there. Some pilots here just seem to think that the US and the world revolve around MCO and LAS, and that we should therefore have pilot bases there.

No VB's. The probability of having VD is much higher.

The end.