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Reserve weekend off bidding

Old 07-06-2017, 10:02 AM
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Default Reserve weekend off bidding

The MEC SSC a month or two back put out in an email about suggested guidelines to maximize weekends off for reserves.

I thought I had saved it but it's disappeared and there couldn't find a copy of it on the ALPA MEC or LEC app links.

Any help much appreciated!
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Old 07-06-2017, 10:10 AM
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It was in the May PBS letter. PM your email to me and I will fwd.
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Old 07-06-2017, 01:23 PM
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There are always a couple of different ways to approach reserve bidding. The following guidance was derived from PBS Training in preparation for Jepp PBS rollout.

First, build a BG that must give the dates off or it will fail and move on to the next. The bid groups are shown bidding for weekend days off. If you want different dates, simply change the dates to the ones that you want off in the month. Assume that the weekend dates are in order of importance. This is an all or nothing bid in that all dates must be off or it will fail.

Must Award Off (Weekend 1 Dates)
Must Award Off (Weekend 2 Dates)
Must Award Off (Weekend 3 Dates)
Must Award Off (Weekend 4 Dates)
Award RSV (All Month) L--

Be sure to run the Bid Analysis Tool on this Bid Group to ensure that the dates you want off are viable and can build a legal line for you.

The next bid group might be one where certain dates must be off and others may or may not be awarded off. See below and again simply change the dates if desired. This bid will fail if the first 2 sets of dates (Lines 1 and 2) are not awarded off. If they are awarded off (therefore, the BG will not fail), then the system will try to get the remaining dates (Lines 6 and 7) off if it can but will not fail the BG if it is unable. You may put this BG in several times. Dates put in above the Award RSV (All Month) L-- (Line 3) will cause the BG to fail if it unable to award them off.

Must Award Off (Weekend 1 Dates)
Must Award Off (Weekend 2 Dates)
Award RSV (All Month) L--
Must Award Off (Weekend 3 Dates)
Must Award Off (Weekend 4Dates)
Award RSV (All Month) H++

Note – RDOs are not used in Basic Reserve Line Construction.

The last BG may be like the one below. This will maximize the number of dates off but will never fail. It may get you all of the dates off or none of them.

Award RSV (All Month) L--
Must Award Off (Weekend 1 Dates)
Must Award Off (Weekend 2 Dates)
Must Award Off (Weekend 3 Dates)
Must Award Off (Weekend 4 Dates)
Award RSV (All Month) H++




The following BG assumes the weekends are the dates in the Must Award commands and the pilot wants to prioritize FDOs on Fridays. Again, run the BAT. The bid group would look like this:

AWARD RSV 29Sep 0001 - 29Oct 2359 [L--]
AWARD RDO SAT-SUN 29 Sep – 29 Oct [H++]
AWARD FDO 03Oct 0001 - 03Oct 2359 [H++]
AWARD FDO 10Oct 0001 - 10Oct 2359 [H+]
AWARD FDO 17Oct 0001 - 17Oct 2359 [H]
AWARD FDO 24Oct 0001 - 24Oct 2359 [N]
MUST AWARD OFF 04Oct 0001 - 05Oct 2359
MUST AWARD OFF 11Oct 0001 - 12Oct 2359
MUST AWARD OFF 18Oct 0001 - 19Oct 2359
MUST AWARD OFF 25Oct 0001 - 26Oct 2359
AWARD RSV 29Sep 0001 - 29Oct 2359 [H++]

One option for most weekend days off, in order of importance:

AWARD RSV (All Month) [L--]
MUST AWARD OFF (Most desired weekend dates off)
AWARD RSV (All Month) [L-]
MUST AWARD OFF (2nd most desired weekend dates off)
AWARD RSV (All Month) [L]
MUST AWARD OFF (3rd most desired weekend dates off)
AWARD RSV (All Month) [N]
MUST AWARD OFF (4th most desired weekend dates off)
AWARD RSV (All Month) [H]
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Old 07-06-2017, 01:37 PM
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I've used this one with good success for a long time. They put this out as a "won't fail" BG years ago. It will award the most individual weekend days off it can, even if it's none if your seniority can't hold it. It's was always my last BG. In earlier BGs I may have had two or three HDOs that I wanted (inserted after the 1 waive line) then remove them one by one until they're all gone. These HDOs might even be for a particular weekend day off, but that BG may fail which is why I always ended with the unrestricted one below.

1 WAIVE Allow single day off 1st group
2 AWARD RSV Mon 0000 - Thu 2359 30Jun 00:00 - 29Jul 23:59 [H++]
3 AWARD FDO Fri 30Jun 00:00 - 29Jul 23:59 [H++]
4 AWARD RSV Fri 30Jun 00:00 - 29Jul 23:59 [H+]
5 AWARD RSV 30Jun 00:00 - 29Jul 23:59 [L--]

Last edited by APC225; 07-06-2017 at 02:04 PM.
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Old 09-04-2017, 04:55 PM
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Originally Posted by APC225 View Post
I've used this one with good success for a long time. They put this out as a "won't fail" BG years ago. It will award the most individual weekend days off it can, even if it's none if your seniority can't hold it. It's was always my last BG. In earlier BGs I may have had two or three HDOs that I wanted (inserted after the 1 waive line) then remove them one by one until they're all gone. These HDOs might even be for a particular weekend day off, but that BG may fail which is why I always ended with the unrestricted one below.

1 WAIVE Allow single day off 1st group
2 AWARD RSV Mon 0000 - Thu 2359 30Jun 00:00 - 29Jul 23:59 [H++]
3 AWARD FDO Fri 30Jun 00:00 - 29Jul 23:59 [H++]
4 AWARD RSV Fri 30Jun 00:00 - 29Jul 23:59 [H+]
5 AWARD RSV 30Jun 00:00 - 29Jul 23:59 [L--]
Shouldn't line 4 be award RDO?
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Old 09-04-2017, 06:46 PM
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Originally Posted by DG1000 View Post
Shouldn't line 4 be award RDO?
You might be right about that. Here is the latest guidance at the prefbid.com site.

Reserve bidding is similar to line bidding but there are some differences, and there are differences between Basic and Global reserve awards. However, reserve bidding can be very simple depending on a bidders needs. For example, the following bid group will award the maximum number of weekend days off that a bidder can hold, and this bid will work for both basic and global bidders.

1 AWARD RSV Mon 0000 - Fri 2359 30Oct 00:00 - 29Nov 23:59 [H++]

This one line bid group will award as many reserve days during the week as possible. The more reserve days awarded during the week, the higher the bidders satisfaction. This bid group WILL NOT FAIL, provided that the bidder is not constrained into a line award.

There are some months where it is impossible to hold every weekend day off due to the pattern restrictions in the UPA. The above bid group will still award as many weekend days off as possible.

In the event a bidder would like weekends off in a bid group that will fail if the requested days cannot be awarded, a more complex bid group is required.

1 MUST AWARD OFF 05Nov 00:00 - 06Nov 23:59
2 MUST AWARD OFF 12Nov 00:00 - 13Nov 23:59
3 MUST AWARD OFF 19Nov 00:00 - 20Nov 23:59
4 MUST AWARD OFF 26Nov 00:00 - 27Nov 23:59
5 AWARD RSV 30Oct 00:00 - 29Nov 23:59 [H++]

This bid group format is slightly different in that it uses must award off statements. In this form, this bid group WILL fail if all four requested weekends are not awarded off. But, this format allows a bidder to easily choose which weekends are most important. One way to accomplish this is to create a group similar to the following group.

1 MUST AWARD OFF 05Nov 00:00 - 06Nov 23:59
2 AWARD RSV 30Oct 00:00 - 29Nov 23:59 [L--]
3 MUST AWARD OFF 12Nov 00:00 - 13Nov 23:59
4 AWARD RSV 30Oct 00:00 - 29Nov 23:59 [L-]
5 MUST AWARD OFF 19Nov 00:00 - 20Nov 23:59
6 AWARD RSV 30Oct 00:00 - 29Nov 23:59 [L]
7 MUST AWARD OFF 26Nov 00:00 - 27Nov 23:59
8 AWARD RSV 30Oct 00:00 - 29Nov 23:59 [H++]

This group will ONLY fail if the bidder cannot get Weekend 1 off in its entirety. It will be awarded if the bidder can be awarded Weekend 1 off in its entirety, but could award no other weekends off. The downside to a group like this is that partial weekends off may be available, but this group in no way preferences that. To fix this problem, a different type of bid group is required. In the following example, Weekend 1 must be awarded off for the group to succeed, but then the preference is for as many other weekend days off as possible, not necessarily full weekends.

1 MUST AWARD OFF 05Nov 00:00 - 06Nov 23:59
2 AWARD RSV Mon 0000 - Fri 2359 30Oct 00:00 - 29Nov 23:59 [H++]

Finally, an example of a reserve bid that preferences, in order, full weekends off, Saturdays off, and then Sundays off. This bid will not fail if the bidder is able to hold a reserve award.

1 AWARD RSV Sat 30Oct 00:00 - 29Nov 23:59 [L--]
2 AWARD RSV Sun 30Oct 00:00 - 29Nov 23:59 [L-]
3 AWARD RSV Mon 0000 - Fri 2359 30Oct 00:00 - 29Nov 23:59 [L]

In some bid months, there are five weekend periods. In some cases, it is possible to receive all weekend days off but only with the use of a waive, and only if a bidder is working the final day of the previous bid period. By waiving to allow a Single Day first Period, provided that the first day of the bid period is a Sunday, a bidder can receive all weekend days off. The following group will fail if a bidder cannot hold all weekend days off. This group is identical to a previous example with the addition of a waive and a "Must Award Off" statement for the single weekend day at the beginning of the bid period, lines 1 and 6.

1 WAIVE Allow single day off 1st group
2 MUST AWARD OFF 05Nov 00:00 - 06Nov 23:59
3 MUST AWARD OFF 12Nov 00:00 - 13Nov 23:59
4 MUST AWARD OFF 19Nov 00:00 - 20Nov 23:59
5 MUST AWARD OFF 26Nov 00:00 - 27Nov 23:59
6 MUST AWARD OFF 30Oct 00:00 - 30Oct 23:59
5 AWARD RSV 30Oct 00:00 - 29Nov 23:59 [H++]

You could also accomplish this in a no-fail bid group by adding the waive statement to our very first example.

1 WAIVE Allow single day off 1st group
2 AWARD RSV Mon 0000 - Fri 2359 30Oct 00:00 - 29Nov 23:59 [H++]
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Old 09-05-2017, 12:13 PM
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Sent you a PM. And thank you for a detailed and informative post.

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Old 09-06-2017, 07:17 AM
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Originally Posted by DG1000 View Post
1 WAIVE Allow single day off 1st group
2 AWARD RSV Mon 0000 - Thu 2359 30Jun 00:00 - 29Jul 23:59 [H++]
3 AWARD FDO Fri 30Jun 00:00 - 29Jul 23:59 [H++]
4 AWARD RSV Fri 30Jun 00:00 - 29Jul 23:59 [H+]
5 AWARD RSV 30Jun 00:00 - 29Jul 23:59 [L--]

Shouldn't line 4 be award RDO?
Perhaps not. The H+ weighting is lower than the lines 2 & 3 H++ so it should try first to award work on just M-Th then if it cannot it will award work on the Friday. This makes it a won't fail BG.
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Old 09-06-2017, 04:48 PM
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Originally Posted by APC225 View Post
Perhaps not. The H+ weighting is lower than the lines 2 & 3 H++ so it should try first to award work on just M-Th then if it cannot it will award work on the Friday. This makes it a won't fail BG.
I get that, but isn't line 4 and 5 essentially the same? Awards work the entire month. Doesn't request any Sat or Sun off...
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Old 09-06-2017, 06:07 PM
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Originally Posted by DG1000 View Post
1 WAIVE Allow single day off 1st group
2 AWARD RSV Mon 0000 - Thu 2359 30Jun 00:00 - 29Jul 23:59 [H++]
3 AWARD FDO Fri 30Jun 00:00 - 29Jul 23:59 [H++]
4 AWARD RSV Fri 30Jun 00:00 - 29Jul 23:59 [H+]
5 AWARD RSV 30Jun 00:00 - 29Jul 23:59 [L--]

I get that, but isn't line 4 and 5 essentially the same? Awards work the entire month. Doesn't request any Sat or Sun off...
No. Line 4 awards work on Friday's only. Line 5 awards work for the whole month, but is weighted lower than all the other lines. It is requesting Sat/Sun off by asking to work every day except Sat/Sun in lines 2-4. If it can do that you'll get weekend days off as a byproduct. But in order for the BG not to fail, it has to be allowed to put work on weekends, but only if it can't make a monthly award any other way.

In order to get weekends off you have to work M-F so,

Line 2 says prioritize M-Th with H++
Line 3 says put the one required FDO H++ on any Fri
Line 4 says if you can't do M-Th, then Fri is ok but less desired at H+
Line 5 says failing all of the above award work any day L--

If you ask directly for a weekend day off (or any day for that matter) with Must Award HDO, that BG can fail. This is designed to simplify the bidding by having one BG that won't fail but will maximize weekend days off. It will award the most weekend days off (by awarding the most weekdays worked) it can.

This one is a riff on the same idea of weighting, except it prioritizes which weekend day you want off, in this case Sat.

1 AWARD RSV Sat 30Oct 00:00 - 29Nov 23:59 [L--]
2 AWARD RSV Sun 30Oct 00:00 - 29Nov 23:59 [L-]
3 AWARD RSV Mon 0000 - Fri 2359 30Oct 00:00 - 29Nov 23:59 [L]

Line 3 says work me M-F as the highest priority (L)
Line 2 says, only if you can't satisfy line 3, work me Sun (L-)
Line 1 says, only if you can't satisfy line 1 & 2, work me Sat (L--)

Last edited by APC225; 09-06-2017 at 06:46 PM.
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