killbilly
Vocals, Lyrics, Triangle, Washboard, Kittens
Makes me wonder if that kind of scenario is why our PBS works the way it does.
Just a reminder: ACARS isn't private
- Thread starter 🦈💜
- Start date
Hiboglossi
The Most Depressing Person
That urban legend has never seemed believable to me. Wouldn't you just be awarded reserve for the month/ bid period if you were awarded no trips?
BobDDuck
Island Bus Driver
You would. In a PBS world if you can't reach min credit, you get unstacked into a line (with none of your avoid preferences protected) or you get reserve. In a paper bid world, if none of the lines match your bid order you get juniored into a line, or get reserve.
Cherokee_Cruiser
Bronteroc
You mean my trick of “Bid Avoid CA EMP #” and entering my own employee number won’t force the system into an endless never awarding loop?
///AMG
Well-Known Member
Honest question because i dont understand PBS as well as many of you all, where is the line drawn between unstacked to a bunch of trips you wanted to avoid for whatever criteria, and straight to reserve/secondary bid? I’ve been very generic in my bids over the last nearly year because i have wanted to avoid reserve, but is there room to get more aggressive with my avoids/awards without triggering that?
BobDDuck
Island Bus Driver
If you don't put an "else start next" with a reserve bit afterwards, the system will build you a line of flying if it has the pairings to do it, regardless of your preferences.
killbilly
Vocals, Lyrics, Triangle, Washboard, Kittens
The problem there is that “else start next” is a grenade on your bid. If there was a way to tie it conditionally to unstacking it would be nicer.
IF UNSTACK THEN START NEXT
Or something like that
///AMG
Well-Known Member
Thank you!
BobDDuck
Island Bus Driver
Put a Bid group of exactly what you want, followed by mostly want you want followed by the bare minimum you will accept followed by reserve.
Should work unless reserve is going senior and you get juniored into an unstacked line. Also helps if you have practice bids so you get a sense of how things are going to go.
killbilly
Vocals, Lyrics, Triangle, Washboard, Kittens
That’s a good strategy - especially for someone more senior than I am.
“Exactly what I want” doesn’t exist at my level. I seem to be in the “get about half sort of in the range I’m willing to accept” echelon right now.
adk
Steals Hotel Toilet Paper
The simplest explanation of unstacking (coverage award) is that the PBS software will try to force you to work a date you don't want to work because you're junior. It sees a large "stack" of open pairings on a date that it knows it needs to cover, and it decides that it's going to make you work that day (legalities permitting) before even looking at your bid. PBS has the authority to do this based on the fact that you're junior and it has been allowed to unstack junior line holders (usually up to a specific seniority).
So, if your PBS decides it's going to unstack you onto Memorial Day before looking at your bid, and your bid includes "give me May 31st off else start next" you are in fact telling the software "if you are going to unstack me onto this date, go to my next bid group."
The problem is that if it can legally unstack you in one bid group, it can probably legally unstack you in subsequent bid groups too.
TLDR: if you're junior your line is going to suck
scooter2525
Very well Member
Maybe he should be an arborist.
Autothrust Blue
Welcome aboard the Washington State Ferries
At least NavBlue is better behaved in this regard than AOS; AOS’s processing of coverage dates would often result in objectionable results such as the bottom REG in a category having, say, hypothetically, DEC25 off, while people up the list would be working DEC25. (It would run out of pairings to assign as it went down the list. Seriously. That’s how it did it.)
“On the Brasilia” in LA, I could tell that my bid-avoid wasn’t honored because the pairing showed up as either PN or CN even though I was fairly senior, and that was basically the only thing I cared about, of course.
I would point out, too, that I think generally this is the desired behavior; most people would rather be a regular line holder than a reserve line holder and avail themselves of whatever other schedule manipulation tools happen post-award.
“On the Brasilia” in LA, I could tell that my bid-avoid wasn’t honored because the pairing showed up as either PN or CN even though I was fairly senior, and that was basically the only thing I cared about, of course.
I would point out, too, that I think generally this is the desired behavior; most people would rather be a regular line holder than a reserve line holder and avail themselves of whatever other schedule manipulation tools happen post-award.
BobDDuck
Island Bus Driver
Depends on how good or bad your reserve system is.
ASpilot2be
Qbicle seat warmer
Especially with a two day call out.
DeltaAlphaNovember
Well-Known Member
I was not on WB reserve long enough to like it or not like it. By the time I get off disability it will have been 2 1/2 years since I even touched an airplane. I'm not sure I will go back to the WB flying or not.
On a side note, i meant to message you a few days ago. One of my buddies in the Navy was riding part of the way back from Thailand on a Delta A-350. I was hoping it would have been you working the flight. I believe it was the ICN-SEA leg.
Last edited:
DPApilot
GUYSH! GUYSH! GUYSH!
It's been 10 months for me, and I'm hoping to make it back around the year mark. The FAA's not giving me much hope, though. I still think I'll head back to the 330, but I'll throw 350 into the mix since you never know what they'll do. I'm abut 2k numbers away from it as of the latest AE though.
Autothrust Blue
Welcome aboard the Washington State Ferries
1800 rolls around well what should I do today
