If Smartpref's globalization feature is as Ratherbeflyen describes and I understand it- Always honoring your preferences but trying to find a better whole solution- I don't have a problem with that kind of globalization.
Here on the CRJ side under Prefbid we already experience THAT type of Globalization.,. What do you think is happening when the union and the company meet trying to find the best overall solution? It is the union and the company tweaking parameters for the best overall solution... Of course preferences are honored but if you create loose preferences or are junior there is quite a bit of latitude in the awards created.
Based on the globalization aspect I think smartpref gets an edge on flightline. There are so many trips and an almost infinite number of outcomes, it's just not as efficient to tweak the bottom bidders at the end of the resolution.
With all PBS systems the top people will get what they bid for. At some point the software will see that the remaining trips with the remaining number of bidders is going to have some conflict. Lets for example say average line value has to be 85 hours. If the top X% of bidders bid for 75 hour lines, then at some point the remaining trips divided by the number of lines left will go over 100 hours. Of course that's not legal so the system keeps track (or is some systems go back up) and makes a point where no matter what your preferences are your ending up with a 95+ hour line. When you have to build a 95 hour line it becomes much harder to honor your requests. Generally speaking most PBS systems have a constraint around the 30% bidding seniority. If your above 30% get close to exactly what you want, after 30% your preference's start taking a back seat to an end resolution. The advantage of smartpref is that it knows from bidder #1 what its constraints are. It already ran one (or millions?) of resolutions before the bid even opened based on standing bids etc. So under the previous example of the 85 average line value, it will try to raise the average line value of everyone. With no globalization if bidder 1 bid max days off, lets say it built a 75 hour 20 day off line. With the globalization it would try to build a 20 day off line with highest line value it could. The result is the constraints that conflict with bidding preference's start occurring latter in the bid seniority. Usually around the 40-60% range and beyond depending on what the constraint is. If your in the top 30% you probably wont see any significant difference, but if your the other 70% it may be huge.
The other significant advantage is time. Because smartpref is running a live system, essentially you could hit the "stop" button at any time and bid awards are posted. All the lines were already completed while everyone bid. You don't have to take the time to then run the bid, post a prelim, run another bid, tweak some more, negotiate with management, and maybe flip a coin. I don't know what the actual time difference would be, but I think two weeks + is reasonable guess on how much sooner the final bid awards would posted with smartpref. I'm sure everyone would love to have two extra weeks to make plans.
I do like the Smatpref feature which allows you to view awards in real time based on available pairings. It sounds much better than the 2 prelims we currently get under Prefbid. Of course as one poster mentioned, there ARE going to be bid snipers. If I am near a computer near bid close I will be watching my predicted award very closely and making adjustments as needed. The more senior the person making last minute changes towards bid close- the more those changes will cascade and ripple down the seniority list. Perhaps a staggered bid close window would solve some of this in both systems....
Agreed, but no system will be immune to last minute changes by people altering the entire resolution. I honestly have no idea which system better protects you from bid changes.
I have seen what a learning curve Prefbid was.. There are many caveats and gotchas that have required a real education to use it to its fullest potential. Initially when we were being trained to use it I think the trainers had a good grasp on how to sort trips but everyone was fuzzy on the logic in which the award engine works. It took a lot of trial and error with many months of bidding to figure it out. Even now I occasionally hear someone confused on how it works or why they got something on their award. I am aware of a few individuals who even pay others to bid for them... All that aside the vast majority is far happier with Prefbid vs our old line bidding. I think we got what we have through the tenacity of our MEC refusing to settle on certain points and some luck. To switch to Smartpref is a huge leap that we might not be so lucky on this time around. I don't think its potential advantages merit us throwing away Prefbid. Why don't we just tweak Prefbid?
I agree that experience with flightline is a huge advantage. Murphy's laws of "If it aint broke don't fix it" and "anything that can go wrong will go wrong," are fitting. Combined with the astonishing desire and ability of this management to exploit loopholes. Using the tested working system does have merit. That's the exact logic the majority of the Lxjt pilot group is using to want to keep line bidding.
Change is inevitable, and as general whole people fear and resist change. Resist or accept, not all changes are for the worse.
Bottom line is the whole thing has become political... Neither MEC wants to appear weak to their members. The CRJ MEC also already has alot invested in Prefbid in terms of time, money, and systems in place to manage PBS. Ultimately I hope we also get control of pairing generation. Either system will create bad schedules if all it has to work with is bad parings...
I agree 100% with this statement. This whole debate stopped being about what's right and became about who's right.
By the way I'm not affiliated with the MEC, LEC or scheduling committee. All the information I have, I learned from xjt alpa. I would love for asa alpa to put out some information on their beliefs and decision logic on flightline. If it is really the better system tell my why. Convince me to vote for it. I defiantly want the better system and care less who's right or wrong.
