Perhaps I should know better...
...but I will give it a shot anyway. I'm wearing asbestos boxers.
We have the Preferential Bid System, PBS. Some like it, some hate it. I have never had a problem with it and some people claim of getting screwed on a monthly basis. You have to be somewhat computer literate get your requests prioritized properly. You also have to understand that the company priorities come first. Online, you tell the system what sort of schedule you would like, days off etc. Then the system takes all the bid requests and makes them fit with expected demand and other company factors (training etc.) In the end it spits out everyone's schedule a few weeks before that bid period begins. I have found that if I focus on one or two factors of my schedule, I tend to get the schedules I want. It seems to me that if you ask for the moon (all sorts of strings of days off, certain numbers of work days in the bid, weekends off...) that it tends to give you very little.
As it stands, you can work anywhere from 14-19 days out of 28. Anything over 17 is guaranteed OT rate. If you work 15 days and pick up an extra day at the end of a rotation, its at OT rate. 2 vacations your first year, 3 for a few years after that, then 4 etc. The vacations are worth anywhere from 12-18 days off per vacation.
As far as working an 8-3...it can happen with OT, But its not something the PBS assigns. We generally work 5-7 day rotations with 4-6 days off after. This is general though, other schedules can be assigned.
I hope this helps. Before you get the idea that Flexjet is some sort of sweatshop, please realize that alot of people do like working here. There are better jobs out there, but there are many more jobs worse than this one. I don't have marital problems, I get lots of time with my family...things are pretty good. It would be much better with upgrades and expansion, but that is pretty much a function of the economy.
Good luck!