ASA to still furlough?

[Gr82Aviate]

SkyWest airlines does have PBS and while some like it many don't. It has to be as un-user friendly as possible.

Brad knows first hand of it and knows what it can do, bottom line is at first he didnt want to get it but when he saw the savings SkyWest practically paid for the program to be rewritten so it would work.

An example would be for training, the training block is put on your schedule before you get to bid. That way there is no chance of a conflict. Same thing for scheduled vacation.

From what I have "heard", and maybe I am wrong about this, but if ASA pilots have a trip that touches a scheduled vacation block you got the entire trip off with pay, is that correct?

If so, with PBS that will be gone. The vacation block will be preassigned and there will be no way that a trip could over lap.

I was a pilot rep at the time we got it, and it took years to get AOS PBS to be acceptable.

It's still not even close to being "acceptable"!!!!

 

[CFIT]

It's still not even close to being "acceptable"!!!!

I agree, personally I think PBS is a total POS.

However, a survey was taken about 2 years ago that showed a high majority of our pilots liked PBS over the old hard paper lines of years ago.

Go figure?

 

[Gr82Aviate]

I agree, personally I think PBS is a total POS.

However, a survey was taken about 2 years ago that showed a high majority of our pilots liked PBS over the old hard paper lines of years ago.

Go figure?

Yeah, I know what the survey showed...don't understand how that's even close to possible??? Maybe it was rigged?!!!

 

[Abernathy]

OK, what about the 20 200s that are going away?

The first of 20 200s are set to go away over a year after we are supposed to get the 900s (which means we'll have all airplanes together for over one year), with the company trying to find new flying for them in the interim, which could happen if fuel stays low.

1-2 years away from today is an eternity in this industry.

Regardless, for that time in which we have all the aircraft, we'll need the appropriate number of pilots flying them--which takes away some of the incentive to furlough. Or at least lessens the severity.

 

[Plainsman]

The trips fall off if they touch your vacation, if you so choose. You still have to build back up to guarantee if you go below 75 hours. I sure don't want this option taken away from me. I have been off since the 16th of December.

 

[WMUSIGPI]

Yeah, I know what the survey showed...don't understand how that's even close to possible??? Maybe it was rigged?!!!

Maybe many of those surveyed never bid lines. All they've ever known is PBS?

 

[Flybywire44]

The trips fall off if they touch your vacation, if you so choose. You still have to build back up to guarantee if you go below 75 hours. I sure don't want this option taken away from me. I have been off since the 16th of December.

Me too, but what if it meant more planes; faster upgrade or better line?

Not that PBS would equal another award, but the Union and Mgt know we need it to be competitive and keep our 80% ATL clause.

 

[buscap]

SkyWest airlines does have PBS and while some like it many don't. It has to be as un-user friendly as possible.

Brad knows first hand of it and knows what it can do, bottom line is at first he didnt want to get it but when he saw the savings SkyWest practically paid for the program to be rewritten so it would work.

An example would be for training, the training block is put on your schedule before you get to bid. That way there is no chance of a conflict. Same thing for scheduled vacation.

From what I have "heard", and maybe I am wrong about this, but if ASA pilots have a trip that touches a scheduled vacation block you got the entire trip off with pay, is that correct?

If so, with PBS that will be gone. The vacation block will be preassigned and there will be no way that a trip could over lap.

I was a pilot rep at the time we got it, and it took years to get AOS PBS to be acceptable.

Dude, no offense, but there's no such thing as a "pilot rep" at Skywest.:laugh:

 

[CFI2766]

Me too, but what if it meant more planes; faster upgrade or better line?

Not that PBS would equal another award, but the Union and Mgt know we need it to be competitive and keep our 80% ATL clause.

Man, I wish that were the case, but I just don't see more planes, faster upgrade, or better lines (from the pilot's perspective) coming from PBS. It would, by definition, not make the company more efficient, to allow the majority of the pilots to have a better QOL.

In time, if PBS isn't agreed to in the near future, I see a choice being handed down from management. I'm afraid it will go something along the lines of accept PBS, or, there will be pay and work rule concessions forced on the pilot group in exchange for keeping the existing flying, much less acquiring any new flying.

In this context, I don't envy the job that the guys on the PBS working group have in front of them.

 

[Texx]

Me too, but what if it meant more planes; faster upgrade or better line?

Not that PBS would equal another award, but the Union and Mgt know we need it to be competitive and keep our 80% ATL clause.

Now that's funny!

 

[CFI2766]

The first of 20 200s are set to go away over a year after we are supposed to get the 900s (which means we'll have all airplanes together for over one year), with the company trying to find new flying for them in the interim, which could happen if fuel stays low.

1-2 years away from today is an eternity in this industry.

Regardless, for that time in which we have all the aircraft, we'll need the appropriate number of pilots flying them--which takes away some of the incentive to furlough. Or at least lessens the severity.

This is the best part of this deal for us, I think. Greed will soon overcome fear in the economy and there will be a recovery. Hopefully, by the time that these 200s are scheduled to go, there will either be attrition to lessen the impact of their departure, or, better yet, some sort of long term flying for them. I know, I'm stating the obvious, but I think it's an important point.

 

[Plainsman]

What do skywest pilots hate about their PBS system?

 

[WalterSobchak]

Greed will soon overcome fear in the economy and there will be a recovery.

My financial advisor tells me this is "good"...

 

[Speedtape]

SkyWest airlines does have PBS and while some like it many don't. It has to be as un-user friendly as possible.

Brad knows first hand of it and knows what it can do, bottom line is at first he didnt want to get it but when he saw the savings SkyWest practically paid for the program to be rewritten so it would work.

An example would be for training, the training block is put on your schedule before you get to bid. That way there is no chance of a conflict. Same thing for scheduled vacation.
Under the present system, you can get hosed with a conflict because if you can't get the right line, you can easily lose money that week. Of course, this could change because of the new 2 day ground school/

From what I have "heard", and maybe I am wrong about this, but if ASA pilots have a trip that touches a scheduled vacation block you got the entire trip off with pay, is that correct?
With pay? No, anything that falls outside the actual vacation footprint creates a possible reduction in guarantee or a reassignment of trips on those specific days unless you build yourself back up with other trips in the month for the time impacted outside the footprint. If managed right by the pilot, he can get extended days off for that period--but he may pay for it somewhere else(his option.) From what I understand about PBS, you can still achieve the same objective for the time off, but have to make sure you build your line up to some target on the other available days. Is this the way it works at SW?

If so, with PBS that will be gone. The vacation block will be preassigned and there will be no way that a trip could over lap.
That's my understanding. However, if a pilot wanted to extend his days off on either side of the preassigned footprint, can he do that with PBS? Of course the tradeoff is that you would have to build your line meeting some target around all those desired days off. If this is the case, then the end result could be the same under either system.

I was a pilot rep at the time we got it, and it took years to get AOS PBS to be acceptable.

Just curious, why did it take so long to get it acceptable at your property? I have friends at Comair and they have had it for years and claim they are still trying to fix it. My friends at Delta, who have had it for 3 years, say that PBS now has greater satisfaction among more pilots and that a majority would not want to go back to line bidding.

Is it the learning curve that causes dissatisfaction, especially in the beginning?

 

[Andy Neill]

What do skywest pilots hate about their PBS system?

The biggest complaint I have heard is how it blocks out training and vacation at the beginning of the process making conflicts with trips (and the dropping of those trips) unnecessary.

The year it was implemented, I would always ask the pilots about it when I was jumpseating. I didn't hear any impassioned responses one way or the other but a more ambivilent "Oh, it's OK, I suppose." Some would indicate a bad month but admitted the system gave them what they asked for. The trick was knowing how to build your preferences.

The first Christmas it was in place, some junior pilots who knew how to game the system got Christmas off while much more senior pilots were flying. They had set up three day trips on 22-24 Dec and 26-28 Dec making an added trip on Christmas illigal. The senior guys had asked for big blocks of time off either side of Christmas. When the system looked for pilots to add the Christmas trips, they were the prime targets.