Autothrust Blue
"Those are your factual recollections, Captain?"
This was me when our "you can make changes to your schedule" window opened:
Christmas off!
Christmas off!
On scheduling and Christmas bidding
- Thread starter Autothrust Blue
- Start date
ASpilot2be
Qbicle seat warmer
My December schedule:
1-Work
2-8-Off
9-30-Work
31-Off
For a whopping 11 days off if I am lucky.
1-Work
2-8-Off
9-30-Work
31-Off
For a whopping 11 days off if I am lucky.
scooter2525
Very well Member
1-10 off for me. I'll manage. Got thanksgiving off though.
ClarkGriswold
Non Nutritive Cereal Varnish Engineer
First month being able to hold a line and got the 23rd-27th off. Must be a PBS wizard or something.
Autothrust Blue
"Those are your factual recollections, Captain?"
My observation, having had both PBS and hard lines: PBS changes nothing for those at the top and the bottom; the guys and gals at mid-seniority (me) must adapt. Our PBS does funny things with coverage dates (to me, it almost processes them incorrectly from a computational perspective). In my case PBS awarded me a trip on the 23rd-26th, BUT we're admittedly almost overstaffed this month. SkedPlus opens at 2000 on the 24th and by 2000:51 I had dropped the Christmas 4-day.
The transactions went:
- Drop one four day
- Exchange one four day for a higher crediting, partial-weekends-off four day
- Exchange a local at the back end of a four day for a local on the 29th
- Exchange two locals for a three day
Last December was the first month I held a line too, and I'm pretty sure that the way our PBS does coverage dates (NOT from the bottom of the list up, as one would expect) is responsible for the bottom lineholders often getting Christmas off and mid-seniority lineholders being "CN'd" onto those days.
Autothrust Blue
"Those are your factual recollections, Captain?"
I actually thought about going down to reserve (we had a Long Call line with Christmas off, and it went to folks suuuuuper junior), but I like being able to do some modifications to my schedule, and swapping coverage days with other reserves, while not impossible, takes some doing. I'm still going to get more than reserve guarantee and all the days off that I wanted, so meh.
Plus not answering the phone is great.
Autothrust Blue
"Those are your factual recollections, Captain?"
That is my logic too. I moved heaven and earth and burned vacation pay to get Thanksgiving off. Christmas, as celebrated, is an excuse for wretched excess and contributing to Wal-Mart's bottom line. Consequently I personally don't care much about Christmas, but the people in my family sure like it, and with the old man being an area code it's a cinch as to which days he'd be getting off.
Besides, the trip I dropped had a 12 hour duty day on December 25 that started in Modesto and ended in Bakersfield. Even ignoring the date, it would have been a prime candidate to jettison. (We had one that was an 0543 report on the 25th with a 13:53 scheduled duty day too - that one, fortunately, went even more junior.) We get holiday pay (4:18 credit) whether we actually work those days or not - if you call in sick before, on or after you forfeit the extra credit, but if you drop you can keep it. Good motivation, IMO.
I have similar feelings about getting weekends off, too. I care, and can usually swing partial weekends, but I'd rather have better flying and better layovers than weekends.
rd757
Well-Known Member
First time using PBS and got Christmas and New Years off, I'm 3 up from the bottom in the base. Then we got an email saying it didn't work "right", so they re-ran the solution and short call on NYE showed up again on my schedule. Argh.
Scheduling called this morning to inform me that I would have short call on Thanksgiving at 0300... awesome. Good thing the family is getting together about 25min from the airport...
Scheduling called this morning to inform me that I would have short call on Thanksgiving at 0300... awesome. Good thing the family is getting together about 25min from the airport...
Autothrust Blue
"Those are your factual recollections, Captain?"
Huh. We don't have a lot of oversight or input into our PBS ("this is the award, so say we all").
Where I work, reserve is still hard lines for pilots. Our FAs have a preferential reserve (bid days off) system, but for reasons I'm not entirely privy to SAPA turned it down. Our flight attendants can also do something that approximates reserve proffering, as I understand it, but again, "we" turned that one down. (I'll ask my FA today how their system works - I am genuinely curious.)
kellwolf
Piece of Trash
We get paid extra for working holidays. Since neither of our families are even in the same state, Thanksgiving and Xmas off don't really score high for me. I'd rather have my wife's birthday and our anniversary off in December, both of which I got. After the FLICA windows, I also managed to get 88 hours, 15 days off and all commutable trips. I did get New Year's Eve off, and I didn't even ask for it. If I can score a late show on NewYear's Day ( another holiday we're paid extra for), I'll be good.
bike21
9-5 Ruins Lives
We turned down PBS day off bidding because the rules were too loose and there would be penalties for vacation as written. Similar to FA proffering, they took the first offer and didn't care about much else. I'm not even sure they're proffering is up and running yet, in fact I'd be quite surprised. I'd rather get it right the first time around.
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