captainv
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2002
- Posts
- 572
Hey, just curious as to what your bid process is like at Atlas? I saw mention of essentially bidding a trip footprint rather than specific trips as well as Reserve. Is it all seniority-awarded? Are the bids done monthly, multi-month, etc? Do all trips start/end within the bid period, or do some trips extend into the next, and if so, is there a limit to how many days or whatever it can carry into the next period? And if so, how is it handled for the next period, as far as conflicts or time off?
Thanks!
Bids are awarded in seniority order and are done monthly, but you have the option of bidding for a 60-day line. Other than 60-day lines, i haven't seen trips that transition into the next month, although you're allowed to wave the minimum 5 days between trips if you wish to double up. Bids are a mix of known flying and reserve, and at least on the 767, the offerings can vary widely. One month you might only have home reserve lines to choose from (in JFK). Last month had two flying lines, the rest were evenly split between home and base reserve, evenly split between 30 and 60 days lines. I would imagine CVG is less chaotic because all of the DHL flying is set well in advance.
I call it bidding a footprint because it doesn't really matter what you're awarded - a highly productive 17-day trip or 17 days of home reserve - your trip can and often does change before you leave the house. it's a lot easier to look at it as bidding a footprint and not obsess over losing "your" trip.