Your thoughts about PBS?

[SF3CA]

I think what most of us at FedEx are afraid of is loss of trip conflicting with our vacation. PBS will put an end to that. Our vacation policy is awsome, but one of the reasons that it is so good is that anyone can turn 7 days of vacation into 21 days off by conflicting trips.

It will be a hard sell

 

[FoxHunter]

I think what most of us at FedEx are afraid of is loss of trip conflicting with our vacation. PBS will put an end to that. Our vacation policy is awsome, but one of the reasons that it is so good is that anyone can turn 7 days of vacation into 21 days off by conflicting trips.

It will be a hard sell

Yes, there will be no more using a 7 day vacation to knock out a whole month or two months if your senior and on the right aircraft. Since the real limit is your vacation bank PBS will work fine with vacations. You can say good bye to leaving 40% of your vacation in the bank for payment at the end of the year. It will actually force people to use their vacation hours. the fact is that PBS in the area of vacations will cause a requirement for more pilots, not less.

 

[75M]

I think what most of us at FedEx are afraid of is loss of trip conflicting with our vacation. PBS will put an end to that. Our vacation policy is awsome, but one of the reasons that it is so good is that anyone can turn 7 days of vacation into 21 days off by conflicting trips.

IMHO, the trade off is eleven months of great QOL for one month of potential vacation conflicts. For me, the trade was well worth it.

 

[surplus1]

Surplus1,

In our latest agreement with management, we were allowed to choose the PBS system. I am sure Dalpa will find the best one that helps us out the most, while allowing the company many advantages too.

Bye Bye--General Lee

General,

You spoke of the system you used at Delta Express, not one that you may use in the future. That Delta Express system was a bad choice made without due dilligence.

I too hope that your next choice will be better advised and studied before it is implemented. Good luck.

 

[surplus1]

75M,

Are your opinions based on the Airwares system or the one (Adopt) that you were eventually forced to use?

 

[fr8doggie]

Cliff_S:


Don't know where you sit on the MD-11 seniority list but bid a secondary line for awhile and see how you like it. FedEx uses PBS to build the secondary lines.

The big problem, as KL_H stated is that management will not allow any union input on how the PBS operates.

I'm totally against it.

 

[klhoard]

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I think what most guys (including me) are now thinking is that we'd rather stick with a known quantity - bidpacks - than step off a cliff into the "great unknown". Even if that "unknown" has the possibility of being a good deal.
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Case in point is the increasing number of disputed pairings in the MD-11. Try flying 7+30, then quick turning for another 1+20 into a foreign country. We have a joint union / company scheduling team in place, but it is obvious that our concerns with these pairings is falling on deaf ears. The $$$'s are overriding the union side of the "team". We can dispute all we want, but the final arbiter of our "disputes" is the company themselves. . .
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Now extrapolate the disputed pairings process to a monthly software bidding program where the final word is the company and you can easily see our concerns. Once the system is in place, it will be next to impossible to go back.
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BTW - what ever happened to the "Feel the Pain" program where our senior flight managers go fly these pairings??
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[md83drvr]

I used PBS at TWA. By far the best way to bid. I just flew a 4 day trip with a guy who spent all four days trying to figure out his bid. It drives me insane having to look through 300+ lines. With PBS I set up my default bid, and usually didn't think about it unless I needed a day off or vacation.

The company and union must come to an agreement on how the parameters will be set, work rules, min time, etc. I disagree with the guys that don't like it, usually they don't understand the program. It can benefit the pilots, much less time bidding, better line construction, more control over your schedule. I would rather have a computer build the lines, that has been set by union and company, than have the company construct the lines. No matter how good a line is there is always a trip you don't like. PBS will eleiminate that for the most part.

Once you use a PBS you will never wat to line bid again.

-83

 

[FoxHunter]

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Case in point is the increasing number of disputed pairings in the MD-11. Try flying 7+30, then quick turning for another 1+20 into a foreign country. We have a joint union / company scheduling team in place, but it is obvious that our concerns with these pairings is falling on deaf ears. The $$$'s are overriding the union side of the "team". We can dispute all we want, but the final arbiter of our "disputes" is the company themselves. . ..
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You must be kidding. You are talking about the trips that leave Anchorage around 8-10am local time, fly to Narita, and then fly to the final destination. All daylight flying, except in the middle of winter, everyone shows up rested because of the departure time, usually no one really needs a break because no one is tired. This is probably the easiest international flying with the exception of the trips that go only ANC-NRT.

 

[75M]

75M,

Are your opinions based on the Airwares system or the one (Adopt) that you were eventually forced to use?

AdOpt. Worked great. Lots of options.