ABC’s of PBS - PrefBidprefbid.com/ABCs/ABCs_20.pdf · The ABC’s of PBS, as originally...

ABC’s of PBS

An All-in-One Desk Reference and

Guide to the CAL Preferential Bidding System

Version 2.0 Revised February 2007

All-in-One Desk Reference Guide to the Continental Airlines Preferential Bidding System

Dear Fellow Pilots:

Since we went live with Jeppesen PBS in Sept. 2006, much new ground has

been covered and many improvements to the system have been

incorporated. The ABC’s of PBS, as originally published, has been long

overdue for a revision. What you’re looking at is the most current, up-to-

date information available on our PBS system. This instruction guide is the

result of a combined effort by your PBS Committee and our PBS Trainers

and is based on experience gained during the mock bids, live runs and

more significantly, the input and suggestions we have received from our

line pilots. As our PBS system continues to mature, your committee will

continue to add more functionality and improve our existing system in

order to bring you the system you expect and deserve. When you read

through the ABC’s of PBS version 2.0, please continue to let us know how

we can improve this resource for you by sending your critiques to

[email protected] or by visiting our trainers at PrefBid.com.

Sincerely,

The PBS Committee

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Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 What is PBS?......................................................................................... 1 How does PBS work?............................................................................. 1 How PBS Bids Are Constructed................................................................... 2 Pre-assignments and Absences ................................................................... 4 Types .................................................................................................. 4 Carry-in (Pairings or Reserve Days) ...................................................... 5 Line Credit Range ................................................................................. 5 Awarded Pairings ................................................................................... 5 What Makes Up a Bid Group? ..................................................................... 6 Bid Group Variables............................................................................... 6 SET Statements..................................................................................... 6 SET Line Credit Range................................................................... 6 SET Work Blocks ............................................................................ 7 SET Reserve Line ........................................................................... 7 Waive Statements.................................................................................. 8 Waive Credit ................................................................................... 8 Waive Credit Non-Flying ................................................................ 9 Waive Deadhead Credit .................................................................. 9 Waive Days Off.............................................................................. 10 Min Days Between Work Blocks ................................................... 10 Waive Minimum Days Off............................................................. 10 Award and Avoid Statements............................................................... 10 Award Statements ......................................................................... 10 Avoid Statements .......................................................................... 11 Weights................................................................................................ 11 Limits ................................................................................................ 14 Bidding with PBS 101 ................................................................................ 15 Advanced Technique: Combining Weights and Limits....................... 17 Award/Avoid Bid Types ........................................................................ 18 Award and Avoid Bid Type Descriptions ............................................. 20 Award/Avoid Work ........................................................................ 20 Award/Avoid Layover Station and Length .................................... 20 Avoid Duty Time Within Pairing................................................... 21 Award/Avoid Pairing Type............................................................. 22 Award/Avoid Pairing Numbers ...................................................... 22 Award/Avoid Pairing Report Time................................................. 22 Award/Avoid Pairing Release Time ............................................... 23 Award/Avoid Downline Report Time ............................................ 23 Award/Avoid Downline Release Time ........................................... 23 Award/Avoid Pairing Length ......................................................... 24 Award/Avoid Deadhead at Start of Pairing.................................... 24 Award/Avoid Deadhead at End of Pairing..................................... 24

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Award/Avoid Deadhead Anywhere in Pairing......................... 25 Award/Avoid Deadhead Ratio ................................................. 25 Award/Avoid Legs per Duty .................................................... 25 Award/Avoid Sit Time............................................................. 26 Award/Avoid Airport ............................................................... 26 Avoid Airport with Missing Qualification................................ 26 Award/Avoid Time Away From Base....................................... 27 Award/Avoid Premium Credit Value per Day......................... 27 Award/Avoid Premium Aircraft Ratio ..................................... 27 Award/Avoid Average Pairing Block per Duty......................... 28 Award/Avoid Average Pairing Block per Day ......................... 28 Award/Avoid Aircraft Type...................................................... 28 Award/Avoid Flight Number ................................................... 29 Award/Avoid IRO Pairing........................................................ 29 Award/Avoid Flying With........................................................ 29 Award/Avoid Premium Credit Value per Duty ....................... 30 Award/Avoid Average Pairing Credit per Day ......................... 30 Award/Avoid Average Pairing Credit per Duty ....................... 31 Award/Avoid Number of Duties.............................................. 31 Validity Periods .................................................................................... 32 The Guarantee Line ............................................................................ 34 Reserve Bidding................................................................................... 35 Avoid Reserve Days ....................................................................... 36 Award Movable.............................................................................. 37 Considerations When Building a Reserve Bid .............................. 38 Bid Groups and Trip Pools .................................................................. 40 How to Access PBS .................................................................................... 53 Finding PBS......................................................................................... 53 The Crew Info Screen ......................................................................... 53 Navigation............................................................................................ 54 Calendar .............................................................................................. 54 Crew Info............................................................................................. 54 Line Credit........................................................................................... 54 Block ................................................................................................ 54 Seniority .............................................................................................. 55 Reports ................................................................................................ 55 The Bidding Screen............................................................................. 55 The Bid Group Tab Bar................................................................. 56 The Bid Group Toolbar ................................................................. 56 The Bid Row Toolbar .................................................................... 57 The Bid Row Window ................................................................... 57 Overview Screens ................................................................................ 58 Current Month Overview.............................................................. 58 Current Month Overview Toolbar .......................................... 58 Current Month Overview List ................................................ 58

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Bid Rows Display (Bid Group View)....................................... 59 Previous Month Overview ................................................................... 59 Previous Month Overview Toolbar................................................ 59 Previous Month Overview List ...................................................... 59 Bid Rows Display (Bid Group View) ............................................. 59 Standing Bid ........................................................................................ 60 Filtering ............................................................................................... 61 Bid Row Filtering .......................................................................... 61 Trip Pool Filtering......................................................................... 62 Impact..................................................................................... 63 Match...................................................................................... 64 Available.................................................................................. 64 Pool ......................................................................................... 64

Denial Mode .................................................................................... 66 Flight Line Denial Mode ............................................................... 67 Reserve Denial Above the G-Line ................................................. 68 Reserve Denial Below the G-Line ................................................. 71

Bid Award Results ...................................................................................... 74 Bid Award Report ................................................................................ 74 The Reasons Report ............................................................................ 74 Bidding – A Practical Example................................................................... 78 Conclusion ................................................................................................ 83 Glossary ................................................................................................ 84

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ABC’s of PBS 1 February 2007

Introduction What is PBS? In our previous bidding system, you would look through pages of pre-constructed lines and hope that you found one that fit all of your needs. Then, you place your bid and hope someone more senior did not get to that one perfect line first! In contrast, a Preferential Bidding System (PBS) allows crewmembers to be their own line constructors and build their own schedules based on their personal preferences and current seniority. PBS is very flexible and very powerful. However, it is a completely new approach to bidding. This document will take you through the important concepts and ideas you will need to get started. How does PBS work? PBS is a web interface that is accessed through CCS. You use this interface to tell the system what you prefer – and do not prefer – to see on your schedule. PBS then looks at your pre-assignments and carry-in pairings, checks for legalities and builds your line based on your seniority and what you bid. When the lines are completed on the 20th , your line is then loaded into CMS/CCS just as it is today, but without the need for any post line award adjustments. As soon as your schedule is posted, you can Trip Trade, Personal Drop, Pick Up or, more important, plan your personal schedule for the next month.


How PBS Bids Are Constructed You create your bids by using the Web-based PBS Interface accessed through CCS. Your Bid consists of one or more Bid Groups. These Bid Groups are each made up of one or more Bid Rows. You can have up to 20 Bid Groups and each group can have up to 50 Bid Rows. Up to 25 of the 50 Bid Rows within a single Bid Group can be Award statements. The remaining statements can be Sets, Waives or Avoids. PBS looks at your Bid Groups sequentially (from the first Bid Group to the last) until it finds the first Bid Group that it can completely satisfy. This does not, however, mean that you will receive everything that you have listed in your Award statements. For example, you may have entered three Award statements such as:

• Award SFO layovers, • Award Pairing Credit per Day >= 6:30 hours per day • Award Premium Aircraft Ratio = 100%

Your awarded line could consist of pairings taken from all three Award statements or only one or two of the Award statements. You could further modify these Award statements with Weights or Limits (discussed on pages 11 and 17) to provide guidance to the PBS program on which Award statements have a higher priority for you. For a Bid Group to be successful, it must honor 100 percent of your “SET” and “AVOID” statements. It must also honor any “WAIVE Non Flying statement” (as it causes a change in the Line Credit Range, which is a SET.) In addition to the Award statements in the previous paragraph, assume you had also entered “Set Line Construction Range High,” “Waive Vacation Credit 3 Days” (to receive additional line credit) and “Avoid Work on Sundays.” To be successful, your awarded PBS line must have been constructed within the High Line Construction Credit Range, defined as the LPA to the LCC (Line Production Average, or LPA, and Line Construction Cap, or LCC, can be found on the Flight Ops website under the “Pref Bidding” tab, and are typically 81:30 and 87:30 unless flexed) allowed waiving three days of vacation credit (providing additional line credit) and would have no pairings flying on Sundays. If these requirements cannot be met, then the Bid Group fails and the PBS program cycles to your next Bid Group. Bid Groups are completely separate from each other; in effect, they can be considered unique bids. In other words, if Bid Group one fails, the system "resets" and then starts processing Bid Group two as though one did not exist. Bid Groups have NO bearing on each other except that one comes before another to be processed, if needed.


If PBS is not able to create a line for you after going through all of your Bid Groups, it will use a denial mode (explained on page 66, and varying depending upon above/below the g-line and lineholder or reserve bid) to create your line. In short, denial mode takes the last Bid Group in your bid and modifies it to allow additional pairings to be brought into your trip pool in order to give the system the ability to award you a line. Denial mode is the system's last-resort method of awarding you flying in case all of your Bid Groups fail. Results coming out of denial mode can be acceptable, but generally end up being NOT anywhere near what the pilot wants. ALWAYS structure your bid to stay out of denial mode! Put simply - Denial mode is NOT your friend!! Experience has shown that the absolute most common reason for ending up in denial mode is just that -- DENIAL! Pilots who refuse to bid according to their seniority are most likely to end up in denial mode. For example: If you are 70% senior in base as a 737 EWR pilot you are NOT going to be able to specify a whole month of "commutable" trips. Realistic expectations are a MUST in this system. The Bid Groups in your bid can be very similar to each other, with each Bid Group having just a few changes from the previous one. For example, your first Bid Group may ask for weekends off, defined as from Friday at 12:00 until Monday at 12:00. Your third Bid Group may relax this definition to Saturday at 9:00 a.m. until Sunday at 3:00 p.m. Bid Groups can also be very different from each other. For example, your first Bid Group may be weekends off and LAX layovers. However, if PBS cannot award you a line from that Bid Group, your second Bid Group may preference Wednesdays and Thursdays off with long layovers in SFO. When processing a Bid Group, PBS creates a Bid Group Trip Pool. This Bid Group Trip Pool contains all of the pairings that you have bid that are still available to you given your seniority and pre-assignments. Remember that you will see all the pairings in your BES when bidding. This DOES NOT mean they are all available to you when the system begins processing your Bid Groups. The PBS program internally builds as many lines as possible (into the tens of thousands of combinations) using this pool. Each line is then evaluated against the weights and limits you have input (weights and limits are discussed on pages 11 and 17) in the Bid Group. The best line available is then assigned to you. A key feature of our PBS system is that it attempts to optimize the overall solution to the benefit of the pilot's wants and desires. This is opposite if the first job of PBS is to award ALL known flying (per contract). PBS is able to process and award all the flying in a relatively short period of time. However, this first solution would not be acceptable to the pilots as it would only have


to meet the bare bones requests of each pilot. The vast majority of processing time is used to improve the solution to maximize pilot satisfaction.

Pre-assignments and Absences Conflicts will be considered as either pre-assignments or carry-in. Types

• Training – Qualification Training, Annual Recurrent (CQP) and IOE • Vacation • Jury Duty • Drill Weekend • Union Business • Company Business • Leaves – Sick, Personal, etc.

Any pre-assignments or absences known prior to the opening of the bidding process, currently on the 9th of the month, will be shown on the pilot’s personal PBS calendar for that bid month. During the PBS line construction process, pairings will only be assigned that do not conflict with these pre-assignments. In fact, pairings conflicting with pre-assignments are blocked from view during the bidding process. You will never "see" the conflicting pairings. Typically, pre-assignments are updated mid-bid to correct mistakes and update late data. Any absences occurring after the pilot’s line is awarded on the 20th will be handled just as today in accordance with Contract ’02, Section 25, Part 8. For line construction purposes only, each day of absence will be given a line construction credit value of 2:45 (exception - Annual Recurrent (CQP) will not be given this credit). In addition, a pilot (Lineholder or Reserve) unavailable for line flying due to vacation, training (including CQP), military duty, or leaves of absence, will have his/her minimum days off prorated during the PBS Bid award based on the table in Contract ’02 Section 25 (PBS) Part 7, I. More information on how this line construction credit value is used by the PBS program can be found in the discussion on Waive Bids, page 8.

Training is credited at 2:45 per day, but pays 2:24 per day. This means that your actual (pay) line value will be less than your awarded line value. You can use the WAIVE Non Flying command to waive some or all of this credit in order to increase your paid time. Conversely, vacation is credited at 2:45 but pays 3:00 (3:15 as of 01JUL07; please refer to the CBA for accurate vacation pay rates, as they change.)


Carry-in (Pairings or Reserve Days): • Pairings at the end of the previous month that fly into the new Bid

Period. • A reserve pilot may build a schedule that allows a block of reserve days in

one month to carry-in up to two days into the new Bid Period. Carry-in days and their line construction credit value will be shown on the pilot’s personal PBS calendar prior to entering his bid. Pairings or reserve days (if bidding reserve) will be assigned that do not conflict with carry-in assignments.

Carry-in pairings DO NOT count as a work block unless another pairing or duty event is placed immediately adjacent to the carry-in pairing (back-to-back).

Line Credit Range Normally the Line Credit Range (LCR) will be between 74:00 and 87:30 hours. Line credit includes hard flight hours, deadhead, vacation, training and other absences. (Non-Flying Waives bid by the pilot may impact his individual range. This will be explained further under Waive Bids, page 8.) The contractual provisions allowing the LCR to be flexed up are outlined in Contract ’02, Section 25 (PBS), Part 7.B. Through the bidding process you will be able to ask for a line built at the lower, middle or higher end of the LCR. The default value utilized by the PBS program is a “wide” range (i.e., the line credit value that best meet the pilot’s overall preferences anywhere between 74:00 and 87:30 hours.) Awarded Pairings Pairings awarded during the PBS Award process are based on your preferences. There are many types of Award and Avoid statements that can be used to outline your preferences. (Award/Avoid bid concepts are discussed on page 10, along with a more detailed description of individual bid choices beginning on page 20.)


What Makes Up a Bid Group?

Bid Group Variables A Bid Group may be made up of the following Bid Rows:

• SET Statements • WAIVE Statements • AVOID Statements • AWARD Statements (limit 25 per group)

The last bid row in a flight line bid group MUST be an AWARD statement. This restriction does NOT apply to Reserve bid groups

SET Statements SET statements define the overall structure of a bid group (or line solution.) You will notice that SET and WAIVE statements always go to the top of the bid group when entered. The order of SET and WAIVE statements do NOT matter since they affect the entire bid group. SET statements require significant amounts of processing time due to the way they are applied to the bid group. They also do NOT affect the pairings you see in the PBS filter displays, with the exception being SET Max Length of Work Block, which will filter out trips that are of greater length than the work block allows. Set statements consist of the following Bid Types:

• Set Line Credit Range • Set Work Block • Set Reserve Line

SET Line Credit Range Set Line Credit Range (LCR) allows you to set values for the Line Credit Range

• Low: 74:00 to LPA • Medium: LPA minus 3:00 to LPA plus 3:00 • High: LPA to LCC • Wide: 74:00 – 87:30

If you do not specify a Line Credit Range, the default value of Wide (74:00-87:30) will be used automatically. Keep in mind that these ranges can change from month-to-month due to the FLEX provisions contained in Contract ’02, Section 25 (PBS), Part 7.B.


Setting LCR to Low, Medium, or High does not necessarily improve line quality. A specific LCR may fail a bid group depending on how restrictive the other statements are in the bid group. Additionally, pilots who are relatively junior in their base may be restricted from being awarded a specific LCR due to overall solution constraints (OSC).

SET Work Blocks Work blocks consist of continuous days of work, and should not to be confused with pairings. For example, a single four day trip, with nothing added to it is a single work block. Four one-day trips back-to-back encompassing a four day period are also considered only one work block. Activities within a work block are treated equally by PBS. To PBS, a 4-day Work Block could be any combination of trips or other activities that total no more than four days. One important note: Carry-in is NOT considered a work block UNLESS flying is added to that block in the current month by PBS. This is also true for training; it is not considered a work block unless flying has been added to it. This is an important consideration when bidding Max Number of Work Blocks. By utilizing Weights and Limits (discussed on pages 11 and 17), you can control how work is constructed within a work block.

These are the Set Work Block bid types:

• Max Length of Work Blocks (There is no default value, only FAR limitations and/or contract limitations)

• Max Number of Work Blocks • Min Days Between Work Blocks (Default value is two days per

contract) • Work Block Report Time • Work Block Release Time

SET Reserve Line Set Reserve Line provides bidding for:

• A Reserve • B Reserve

This Set Bid is only utilized when bidding for an “A” Reserve Line. The default Reserve type is “B” Reserve.


Waive Statements Waive statements can be used in two manners: 1. Waive Credit to increase line value (higher potential pay) and/or 2. Waive Days Off to allow a compressed flying schedule. Waive Credit Waive Credit can be used to waive credit time for Deadheads and Non-flying activities. Using the waive credit bid type for these activities allows PBS to put more flying on your line.

Non-flying activities are credited to your line construction at 2+45 per day per Contract ’02 Section 25 (PBS) Part 6 Section F.

This includes: training, mil leave, vacation, OE, company business, union business, and leaves of absence. (CQP and annual training are NOT credited to line value! They are still paid out at 2+24 per day.) Without a waive credit statement, if you had 11 hours of vacation credit (4 days at 2+45 per day) and bid to have a high line construction range (81:30 to 87:30 hrs) the vacation credit will be included as part of the line construction credit value (i.e., only 70:30 to 76:30 of work activities). The same 11 hours of vacation credit with a waive credit statement will result in the system attempting to construct a line that accounts for the vacation based on the chart below, in this case 81:30 plus 5:30 waived hours to 87:30 plus 11 waived hours, or 87:00 to 98:30 hrs total. Just to be clear, that is 87:00 to 98:30 of flight time AND vacation line construction CREDIT (not pay.) The key to understanding the WAIVE credit is that you are actually expanding your selected line credit range to account for the vacation credit instead of "putting away" the non-flying credit. In other words, in our example, the 11 hours is still used, but the line credit range is expanded to allow more flying to be put on your line. For line construction purposes, a non-flying Waive Credit is referenced to days instead of hours. The number of days that can be waived is limited to 12. The 12 day limit equates to the max construction of 87.5 plus 33 hours (12 X 2+45) which equals 120.5 hours (contractual limit for line credit is 122 hours). Use this WAIVE with caution! It is very easy to fail a bid group because you waived too much credit! The logic for this limitation is also apparent when you consider a situation in which the pilot has three weeks of vacation in one month. With only 10 or 11 days remaining in the month that must include four days off, the PBS program could not construct a legal 80-hour flying line without some of the


vacation credit included in the Line Credit Range.

Deadhead credit waives do NOT adjust the credit ranges of your bid group. They simply allow more deadhead to be placed on your line without counting it as credit. Please see Waive Credit Deadhead below for a detailed explanation.

Waive Credit Non-Flying Waive Credit Non-Flying (e.g. vacation, training, jury duty, drill weekend, union business, company business, leaves of absence, etc.) As we saw above, the system doesn't apply all the credit all the time. It depends on the line credit range specified for the bid group. Let us take a look at the effect waiving credit has on the different Line Credit Ranges:

Line Credit Range Lower Range Upper Range Low No adjustment No adjustment

Medium No adjustment

This adds ½ of the waive credit value to the maximum line credit value

High

½ of the waive credit value added to the minimum line credit value

Adds all of the waive credit value to the maximum line credit value

Wide No adjustment

This adds all of the waive credit value to the maximum line credit value

Waive Deadhead Credit Deadhead credit after the first 10 hours of scheduled deadhead. The first 10 hours of deadhead is automatically waived and is never used towards achieving your desired line credit range. In addition, using this command will NOT change your Line Credit Range. It simply allows more deadhead to fit on your line and NOT be counted as credit.

If you bid trips that contain large amounts of deadhead AND try to waive large amounts of deadhead to increase your pay, it's possible that you could not leave enough room for flying to bring your LCR into the legal range. The general rule with this command is moderation. Waiving too much time has caused bid groups to fail.


Waive Days Off Waive Days Off can be used to waive minimum days off in two situations: 1. Minimum days off between Work Blocks 2. Minimum days off for the month Min Days Between Work Blocks The contractual minimum number of days off between work blocks is two days, with the exception of GUM which is only one day off between work blocks. This can be waived to one day between work blocks. Remember, to the PBS program a work block is any group of consecutive days of work -- not necessarily a single pairing. This bid is useful when trying to compress your work schedule. Just to drive this concept home: Back-to-back pairings are considered ONE work block. Only when they are separated by one or more days do we get a separate work block! Waive Minimum Days Off At the pilot’s option only, minimum days off can be reduced by either one or two days during a month with a non-flying assignment (typically recurrent training or a vacation.) The PBS program utilizes the proration table from Contract ’02, Section 25, Part 7.I to determine the required minimum number of days off when a pilot is not available for the entire bid month due to an absence, (e.g., vacation, training, etc.) This option allows for additional work, thus increasing the line credit range (i.e., flying a full schedule and receiving vacation pay in addition.) One word of caution: using this command does NOT guarantee that your days off will be reduced-- it simply allows PBS the OPTION of reducing days off if it needs to in order to construct a legal line.

RESERVES! Remember when your days off are prorated, your immovable days off are prorated as well!

AWARD and AVOID Statements The basic building blocks of a bid group are AWARD and AVOID statements. Realize that whereas AWARDs and AVOIDs share most of the same types, they have very different effects. First, a couple of definitions: AWARD Statements An AWARD statement adds pairings to the trip pool of a bid group. A trip pool is simply the pairings that have been made available to a particular bid group. Example: AWARD Pairing Length = 3. Let's say that there are 200 3-day pairings in the bid packet. You have just told the computer that you would like ANY 3 day pairing (that wasn't previously avoided) to be used in the construction of your line. The computer will take all the pairings that you have awarded and build as many different legal combinations as it can.


It keeps the top fifty solutions (lines) to use in consideration of your bid. What these lines look like and which one is given to you is outlined below.

The order of AWARD statements in your bid group has NO effect in the construction of your bid.

AVOID Statements An AVOID statement removes pairings from consideration in a bid group. Consider our AWARD statement above. You want to fly 3-day pairings, but not ones that transit MEX. You would add an AVOID statement ABOVE the AWARD statement. AVOID Airport MEX AWARD Pairing Length = 3

The order between AWARD and AVOID statements is VERY IMPORTANT! An AVOID statement ONLY affects AWARD statements that come after (below) them in a bid group.

In fact, you can use this principle to your advantage to shape your bid. For example: AWARD Layover LAS AVOID Pairing Length <= 2 AWARD Pairing Length <= 4 This bid group would award ALL LAS layovers, including pairing lengths equal to two days. All other layovers must be 3 and 4 day pairings. The next step to consider is how to order your bid. In our preceding example, there is no preference of how many of each pairing would be awarded. The way we prioritize our award is through weights and limits.

Weights You can use weights with any award statement to tell PBS how important that particular statement is to you. There are three different Weights available and the point value PBS assigns to them: • High - Value +10 • Neutral (default) - Value 0 • Low - Value -1

These weights score pairings in terms of "bidder satisfaction points." PBS will award the maximum possible bidder satisfaction points in the first awardable bid group.


Further, as the optimization process continues, PBS will attempt to improve your award either by improving your bidder satisfaction points within the awarded bid group or by awarding a lower-number bid group (i.e. from bid group five to four.) With no action by the pilot, all of your AWARD bid rows will default to a NEUTRAL weighting (a zero value). This tells PBS that every pairing placed into the Bid Group Trip Pool (the "pool" of trips created by your AWARD statements) is equally acceptable to you for your line. By weighting an AWARD statement HIGH (plus ten value), you are telling PBS that this particular AWARD statement is very important to you. PBS will then try to build you a line with as many pairings that match that bid as possible. Conversely, if you set an AWARD statement LOW (negative 1 value) you are telling PBS that you are willing to accept pairings that match the statement, but you want as few as possible. When looking at possible lines to assign to you, the optimizer will add up all the HIGH, NEUTRAL and LOW pairings to create a score for the line. PBS will award you a line with the highest total score it can.

The weight value is given to the pairing as a whole. The credit value or length of a pairing has no effect on its weight value. A five hour turn and an 8-day, 44+50 trip weighted HIGH will carry the same plus ten values.

Let's consider the following. AWARD Pairing Length <= 4 - HIGH. You have just brought all pairings of four days or less into your trip pool. PBS then builds and scores all possible lines, assuming that the bid group is awardable.

PBS Logic: All lines in your cache are of equal value in terms of bidder satisfaction points, and thus are equally desirable.

Let’s look at some more examples. AWARD Pairing Length = 1 (HIGH) could look something like this:

This line would be equal to 120 bidder satisfaction points Now, let’s change the bid slightly to add in more trips AWARD Pairing Length = 1 (HIGH) AWARD Pairing Length = 2 (LOW)


PBS will go through all the 1 and 2 day pairings and attempt to create as many lines as possible, scoring all of them as it goes. Here are just a few of the examples of the points/lines it could create:

Once PBS determines the HIGHEST “point value” line it can assign to you (let’s assume it is 120 points), it will build as many 120 point lines as possible, cache up to 50 of them, and award your line out of that cache. It will go through an optimization process where it determines which of the two (in the above example) equal point, and thus mutually satisfying, lines it should give you while taking into account junior bidder satisfaction. Let me explain further: because you said your only preference is one day trips (HIGH), it doesn’t matter which of the two cached one-day trip lines it gives you. If a junior bidder bid for some of the properties of one of the two cached lines, it will give you the other one to attempt to satisfy both bidders.

PBS Logic: PBS will not fail your bid group or give you lower-weighted choices (lower bidder satisfaction points) based on a junior pilot’s bid. It will award a junior pilot’s more specific bid if it can do so, but a senior pilot’s bid is always awarded first, barring Overall Solution Constraints.

There are important things to keep in mind when it comes to weights: first, a pairing that appears in more than one trip pool will carry the weight from the HIGHEST weighted pool throughout the bid group. This is VERY important to remember. If you were to weight SAT layovers as HIGH and LGA layovers as LOW, a pairing that has both layovers will be weighted as HIGH in your trip pools. Depending on what your preferences are, this may or may not be what you wanted. You can minimize this by segregating your trip pools so as to avoid overlap. This is discussed in later chapters. Also, it must be noted that weights are not cumulative. For example, consider two bid rows “Award Layover Station and Length Any SFO - HIGH” and “Award Pairing Length = 2 - HIGH.” If a pairing was both an SFO layover and a 2-day pairing, the total score assigned to the pairing remains +10 even though two award statements brought the trip into your Bid Group Trip Pool. Weighting is a very powerful tool. For example, consider two bid rows within a bid group: “Award Pairing Length = 3 - HIGH” and “Award Layover


Station and Length Any SFO - HIGH” A line with four 3-day pairings (total score +40) is equal in value to a Bid Award containing four SFO layovers that happen to be 4-day pairings (total score +40). The 3-day pairing line worked 12 days; the other equally weighted line worked 16 days. In this instance the use of a limit (discussed below) could minimize receiving too much of a good thing (SFO layovers.) Keep in mind that even a line with a high value can have neutral and low weighted pairings on it.

Limits Limits let you tell PBS the maximum number of pairings matching a particular award statement that you will allow to be assigned to your line. This is a powerful and often misunderstood tool, and incorrect application of a limit can easily cause a bid group to fail. Let's discuss the impact of limits.

Limits are considered “global” within a bid group. What this means is that once a pool created by an award statement has been limited, each pairing in that pool will be limited throughout the entire bid group, even if it appears in other pools that are NOT limited. This is an important concept to understand because it can have a dramatic impact on your Bid Award. For example, if you were to place the statement “Award Pairing Length = 3, Limit 1,” PBS would not assign you more than a single 3-day pairing from this bid group, no matter what else you bid for in the group. Here's an example that highlights a common mistake when using limits: the bidder lives in LAX (or simply desires LAX overnights) and will accept any length of LAX overnight, but only a single 3-day trip that does not overnight in LAX. Award Pairing Length = 3, Limit 1 Award Airport LAX This bid group will only allow for a single 3-day trip, regardless of how many 3-day trips overnight in LAX. Is there a way to limit non-LAX 3-day trips while not limiting those with LAX overnights? Yes there is, and it is discussed in the section, "Advanced Technique: Combining Weights and Limits." To finish out the basics of limits, we need to define the term "filler trip." A filler trip is any trip that a pilot will accept in limited quantity for the the purpose of "filling" their line. If a pilot wants 3-day trips primarily but is willing to accept up to two 2-day trips, he may set up his bid group like this: AWARD Pairing Length = 3 HIGH AWARD Pairing Lenth = 2 LOW, Limit 2 Notice the combination of weights and limits.


Bidding with PBS 101

To ensure the best possible result in your bid it is highly recommended that you begin by putting your desires down on paper before you even log into the PBS program.

One successful technique is to start from both ends. Build your "dream" bid group first and label it as bid group one, then take that bid group and strip it down to what you KNOW you can hold at your seniority and put that as your last bid group. The next job is to gradually open up the bid groups from number 1 to your last bid group. Realize that if you are just above the g-line, your last bid group may, in fact, be AWARD Work. Now that we've identified the basic parts of a PBS bid, let's look at the basics on how to start constructing a bid. The absolute easiest bid group to input is simply: AWARD Work 1Jan 0001 31Jan 2359 Work is defined as any and all pairings that are available to the bid group for use in constructing solutions (lines). By using the AWARD Work statement by itself, we have told the computer that we want it to use every single pairing available to me at my seniority and will take them in any order. The only limitations are 12 days off and a credit range of wide while complying with all other contract and FAR restrictions. As we saw above, we can get specific on what pairings we want and even WHEN we get them using the date/time parameters within each statement. Additionally, we can use the SET and AVOID statements to shape our bid even further. The full list of AWARD/AVOID types and their parameters is in the next section. The best way to start out is to identify what you want to fly and when. The easiest structure for bid group construction is to eliminate (AVOID) what you don't want then AWARD what's left. Let's say you don't want to work weekends, want a high credit range, and don't like turns. An example: SET Line Credit Range: High AVOID Work Sat 0001 Sun 2359 1Jan-31Jan AVOID Pairing Length <= 1 AWARD Work 1Jan 0001 31Jan 2359 Although we say AWARD Work in this group, the only pairings left are the ones that operate Monday through Friday and are not turns.


You can then start adding complexity if needed. Say we want to fly shorter trips first. We would then do something like this: SET Line Credit Range: High AVOID Work Sat 0001 Sun 2359 1Jan-31Jan AVOID Pairing Length <= 1 AWARD Pairing Length <=4 (H) Go back to our examples on weights and you'll see that this bid group will bias shorter-duration trips first based solely on the scores of the resulting solutions! This bid group would be fine for a senior bidder; however, someone below approximately 50% will likely have this bid group fail because the senior bidders have already taken the weekends off. This is where relaxing your bid groups becomes important. Simply take the same bid group and change the parameters to allow more flying to be awarded. For example: SET Line Credit Range: High AVOID Work Sat 1200 Sun 1700 1Jan-31Jan AVOID Pairing Length <= 1 AWARD Pairing Length <=4 (H) Above we changed the parameter of our weekend to allow more flying. However, depending on your priorities, you may not want to "give up" your weekend first, but rather give the system more flexibility in others ways. For example: SET Line Credit Range: Wide AVOID Work Sat 0001 Sun 2359 1Jan-31Jan AVOID Pairing Length <= 1 AWARD Pairing Length <=4 (H) Here we kept our original weekend, but changed the line credit range to Wide, so the system now has the ability to build our line to a value anywhere from 74:00 to 87:30 hours as opposed to having to meet the High range of 81:30 to 87:30. In short, by "relaxing" the line credit range, we have given the system an easier solution to build.

A VERY common error that we have seen over and over is stacking of AWARD statements that are not mutually exclusive. Let's say you want to report no earlier than 0800, release by 1600 and fly 3 day trips.


This is what we've seen: AWARD Pairing Report Time after 0800 AWARD Pairing Release Time before 1600 AWARD Pairing Length = 3 The bidder THINKS he is shaping his bid to comply with all three statements when in fact he is bring in ALL pairings that report after 0800, ALL pairings that release before 1600, and ALL 3 day pairings. This concept cannot be stressed enough! Remember an AWARD statement brings in all pairings that match its parameters and are available. The bidder above SHOULD have built his bid group like so: AVOID Pairing Report Time before 0800 AVOID Pairing Release Time after 1600 AWARD Pairing Length = 3 Advanced Technique: Combining Weights and Limits Now that we've covered the basics of weights and limits and built a simple bid, let's take the next step and move into a little more advanced group. We've discussed that the best way to get what you want is to AVOID what you don't want and then award everything else. However, there comes a point in your bid groups where you need to begin to relax your AVOID statements to broaden your trip pools and thus increase your chances of a successful bid group. Above we looked at the two simplest ways to accomplish a relaxation of a bid group. Just like the FMC, there are MANY ways to accomplish what you want. For this example, let's assume that a pilot has used an AVOID command to eliminate red-eye trips, but now wants to allow ONE and ONLY ONE red-eye to be considered in the construction of his line. However, he's afraid that even mentioning red-eyes in an award statement will increase his chances of receiving a red-eye trip. This isn't the case. Consider the following example: AWARD Duty Time Within Pairing 0230-0245 (LOW)(LIMIT - 1) AVOID Duty time within pairing 0230-0245 AWARD Work This is a simplistic example illustrating the concept of using weights and limits together. Assume that there is no AVOID statement that will eliminate red-eye pairings any earlier in the bid group. The first statement adds red-eye trips to a low weighted pool. This does NOT increase your chances of getting a red-eye trip as the AWARD Work statement would have captured those trips. Now you've added a LOW weighting to those pairings (the red-eyes.) By using the AVOID statement to eliminate those pairings AFTER putting them in a low pool, you have ensured that they don't appear


in any higher weighted pools. You've allowed red-eye pairings into your bid group but limited them to one, and you've weighted them LOW so that they are ONLY used if needed. This section has given you a quick look at how to approach bidding within PBS. As you can see, it is only as complex as your desires. PBS gives you incredible flexibility in building your bid, but it can be complicated. The trick is to write out your goals first beginning with your ultimate dream bid and then take that and cut it down to the minimum you are willing to accept. BEWARE! The hard part is deciding what your "minimum acceptable" award will be. A pilot who is in the 10% of his base will be able to be relatively picky even in his "last chance" bid group. Conversely, we have seen in every live bid to date junior pilots who simply are being too restrictive in their bids resulting in denial mode 4. Realistic expectations are crucial for bidding under PBS and pilots have learned that what they held under the old system isn't necessarily what they can hold now. Under the line bidding system lines were homogenized to a MUCH greater degree than what we see under PBS. For example, under the old system, there were VERY few turn lines since the line builders tended to spread out the turns to use as filler in lower lines. Under PBS, more pilots are able to build pure turn lines and so that mid-seniority pilot who used to hold some turns now finds that he cannot hold any at all! At the same time, depending on what you bid for, you may find that you can get MORE of what you like.

Award/Avoid Bid Types The combination of AWARD and AVOID statements within a bid group creates the trip pools used to build your schedule. Award statements add pairings to the trip pool based on the attributes of the award statement, such as layover city, report time or pairing type. An avoid statement restricts or limits the pairings that can be placed in the Trip Pools created by all award statements following (after/below) the avoid statement. Avoid statements are always 100% respected by PBS. A pairing that is excluded by an avoid statement will not be assigned to your line. This could result in the bid group failing and the PBS program moving to your next bid group, or entering Denial Mode (if no more bid groups exist). Award statements, on the other hand, simply add additional pairings to your Bid Group Trip Pool. Adding a pairing with an award statement does not necessarily mean that PBS will assign it to your line. For example your Bid Group Trip Pool could consist of three sets of pairings – SFO layovers, 3-day pairings and B-767 flying. Your actual bid award (line) could consist of any combination of SFO layovers, 3-day pairings or B-767 pairings. The utilization of weights and limits (discussed previously) will allow the individual pilot to indicate his preferences to the PBS program.


Every Bid Group must have at least one Award statement in it, and the last statement in the Bid Group must be an Award statement.

The AWARD/AVOID bid types are: 1. Award/Avoid Work 2. Award/Avoid Layover Station with Length 3. Avoid Duty Time Within Pairing 4. Award/Avoid Pairing Type 5. Award/Avoid Pairing Number 6. Award/Avoid Pairing Report Time 7. Award/Avoid Pairing Release Time 8. Award/Avoid Downline Report Time 9. Award/Avoid Downline Release Time 10. Award/Avoid Pairing Length 11. Award/Avoid Deadhead Pairing Start 12. Award/Avoid Deadhead Pairing End 13. Award/Avoid Deadhead Anywhere 14. Award/Avoid Deadhead Ratio 15. Award/Avoid Legs Per Duty 16. Award/Avoid Sit Time 17. Award/Avoid Airport 18. Avoid Airport Missing Qualification 19. Award/Avoid Time Away From Base 20. Award/Avoid Premium Credit Value Per Day 21. Award/Avoid Premium Aircraft Ratio 22. Award/Avoid Average Pairing Block Per Duty 23. Award/Avoid Average Pairing Block Per Day 24. Award/Avoid Aircraft Type 25. Award/Avoid Flight Number 26. Award/Avoid IRO Pairing (FO Bid Only) 27. Award/Avoid Flying with (FO Bid Only) 28. Award/Avoid Premium Credit Value per Duty 29. Award/Avoid Pairing Credit Per Day 30. Award/Avoid Pairing Credit Per Duty 31. Award/Avoid Number of Duties

Note: There are two additional Award and Avoid statements for use when bidding to be a Reserve. See the Reserve Bidding section for details.

The same pairing could be in more than one AWARD statement, and AVOID statement(s) only applies to the Award statement(s) that appear after/below the AVOID statement.


Award and Avoid Bid Type Descriptions 1. Award/Avoid Work

This bid type lets you tell PBS on what days you would like to work (or not work). • Use AVOID statements to tell PBS what day(s) or date(s) you do not

want to work. • Use AWARD statements to tell PBS what day(s) or date(s) you DO

want to work. Options: You can use several options: • Specific day of the week (ex: MON) • Range of days of the week (ex: SUN thru WED) • Specific date (ex: 11 NOV) • Range of dates (ex: 1 NOV through 11 NOV; 11 NOV through 15

NOV) Things to keep in mind: • AVOID Work uses a Trip Touch Validity Period. Any pairing that

touches (even by one minute) the Validity Period you specified will be eliminated from the pool of available pairings.

• AWARD Work uses a Trip Within Validity Period. All pairings that this statement puts into your Bid Group Trip Pool will be entirely contained in your specified Validity Period.

• “AVOID Work Friday through Sunday” means only pairings that report and release on Monday through Thursday would be placed in your Bid Group Trip Pool by later AWARD statements.

• If you bid AWARD, only pairings that are COMPLETELY within the Validity Period you specified will be added to the Bid Group Trip Pool. For example, a Bid Line “Award: Work: Monday through Tuesday” would include only pairings less than or equal to two days in length. A 3-day pairing starting on Monday could not be included because it would end outside of the Validity Period on Wednesday.

• This bid uses home base time. 2. Award/Avoid Layover Station And Length

This bid type lets you tell PBS what Layover Stations you would like (or not like) and also lets you tell PBS how long you want those layovers to be. Options: • Layover Station (ex: AMS, MSY, SJD); the default bid is ANY station. • Length of Layover (ex: 8:00, 24:00, 15:30) • Specific date (ex: 11 NOV) • Range of dates (ex: 11 Nov through 15 Nov) • Range of weekdays (ex: Mon–Fri) Things to keep in mind: • Any pairing containing the desired layover and starts during the


Validity Period will be looked at by PBS. It is very important to check your filtering when using this bid type.

• Use the ANY Station option when you are not concerned about where your layover is, just how long it should be.

• For example, a Bid Line “AVOID Layover Station and Length Any >= 20 hours” would eliminate all long layovers. International pilots must use caution with such a generic bid since this could also eliminate most of the Europe, Pacific and South America layovers and could result in a domestic schedule. In this situation, to avoid the long domestic layover either, bid to avoid the domestic layover city(ies) with or without a specified layover length or bid "AWARD Pairing Type International” first and then enter the AVOID Layover Station and Length bid line. Remember, an AVOID bid line applies to all AWARD bid lines below/after it, not to those above/before it.

• This bid uses local time.

3. Avoid Duty Time Within Pairing This bid type lets you tell PBS that you do not want duty time during certain times of the day inside of a pairing (for example, late night red-eye pairings.) If you enter this bid, PBS will check each leg of each available pairing. If it finds any leg with duty during the time you asked it to avoid, the entire pairing will be avoided. Options: • You can select any range of time during the day in 15-minute

increments. Things to keep in mind: • Watch the Validity Period you set for this bid type! PBS will only

check duty periods (not report and release times!!) within the dated Validity Period. If you set a date range of 11 NOV thru 15 NOV to avoid work from 1000 to 1400, PBS would not avoid a 6-day pairing that started on 09 NOV if the only duty period on that PAIRING with duty between 1000 and 1400 is on 10 NOV.

• Use extreme caution with this Bid type! For example a Bid Line “Avoid: Duty Time 0200 through 0500” would eliminate most International B-777 and B-756 pairings from the Bid Group Trip Pool because they operate during this time period based on the local time of the departure station at the beginning of each duty period. If your goal is to avoid working domestic pairings during these time periods, then enter a bid "AWARD Pairing Type International” first, enter AVOID Duty Time second, followed by "AWARD Pairing Type Domestic.”

• This option uses the local time at the departure station at the beginning of each duty period.


4. Award/Avoid Pairing Type This lets you bid for or avoid certain kinds of pairings that fly to specific geographic areas. Options: • Domestic • International • Pacific • Atlantic • South America • Central America • Mexico • Canada • Hawaii • Alaska • Caribbean • Charter Things to keep in mind: • Any pairing that touches (even by one minute) the Validity Period you

set for this bid type will be looked at by PBS. • Pairings with a single leg that qualifies for your selection are

considered. Pairings may fall into more than one category. For example, a 4-day EWR-HNL-LAX-EWR pairing is considered Pacific, Domestic, Hawaii and International. Thus, a Bid Line “AVOID Pairing Type Domestic” would eliminate this pairing from consideration in the Bid Group Trip Pool because of the leg LAX-EWR. Likewise a Bid Line “AWARD Pairing Type Domestic” would include this same pairing, even though it flies as an international leg.

• This option uses home base time.

5. Award/Avoid Pairing Numbers Use this bid type to bid for or avoid specific pairings by number. Options: • A text box opens up for you to input a pairing number. Things to keep in mind: • You can only enter ONE pairing number per Bid Line. If you want to

bid for (or to avoid) multiple pairings, just add another Bid Line for each pairing.

• Only pairings that START during the Validity Period will considered 6. Award/Avoid Pairing Report Time

Use this bid type to tell PBS what report times you'd like to award or avoid. Options: • You can select any range of time during the day in 15-minute

increments.


Things to keep in mind: • Only pairings that START (show time) within the Validity Period will

be looked at by PBS. • This bid type must not be confused with “SET Work Block Report

Time." The SET bid allows pairings with any report time to be utilized within the overall work block so long as the first pairing complies with the preferenced report time for the work block. This bid applies to all pairings within the Bid Group Trip Pool. By default, this would determine the report time of your work block(s) because the first pairing of the work block must be within the Validity Period.

7. Award/Avoid Pairing Release Time

Use this bid type to tell PBS what release times you'd like to award or avoid. Options: • You can select any range of time during the day in 15-minute

increments. Things to keep in mind: • Only pairings that END (release time) within the Validity Period will

be looked at by PBS. • This bid type must not be confused with the “Set Work Block Release

Time” bid. The SET bid allows pairings with any release time to be utilized within the overall Work Block so long as the last pairing ends no later than the set release time for the Work Block. The award or avoid bid applies to all pairings within the Big Group Trip Pool. By default, this would determine the release time of your work block(s) because the last pairing of the work block must be within the Validity Period.

8. Award/Avoid Downline Report Time

Use this bid type to tell PBS what report times you want (or do not want) on downline duty periods. Options: • You can select any range of time during the day in 15-minute

increments. For this bid type, PBS uses Local Time at the layover city.

Things to keep in mind: • Only downline duty periods that START (show time) within the

Validity Period will be looked at by PBS. • Pairings with only one Duty Period (turns) will not be used with this

bid type, because they do not have any downline report time.

9. Award/Avoid Downline Release Time Use this bid type to tell PBS what release times you'd like to award or avoid on downline duty periods.


Options: • You can select any range of time during the day in 15-minute

increments. For this bid type, PBS uses Local Time at the layover city.

Things to keep in mind: • Only downline duty periods that END (release time) within the

Validity Period will be looked at by PBS. • Pairings with only one Duty Period (turns) will not be used with this

bid type, because they do not have any downline report time.

10. Award/Avoid Pairing Length You can use this bid type to tailor maximum or minimum desired pairing length. Options: • Exactly (Equal To), Min (Less Than), Max (More than) or a Range of

lengths. You can select values of one to 10 days. Things to keep in mind: • PBS counts any calendar day touched by a pairing (even by one

minute) towards the pairing length. • Use caution when the last flying segment of a pairing ends between

2331 and 2346. The contractual 15-minute (30 minutes international) de-brief time will result in the release time extending into the next calendar day. For example, a domestic pairing that is otherwise three days in length but arrives on the last flying segment on the last day at 2355 would be considered a 4-day pairing because the release time is 0010.

• The validity period that applies is pairing start.

11. Award/Avoid Deadhead at Start of Pairing You can use this bid type to tell PBS to either award or avoid deadhead at the beginning of your pairings. Options: • There are no unique options for this bid type. Things to keep in mind: • PBS will only look at pairings that start during the Validity Period.

12. Award/Avoid Deadhead at End of Pairing

You can use this bid type to tell PBS to either award or avoid deadhead at the end of your pairings. Options: • There are no unique options for this bid type. Things to keep in mind: • PBS will only look at pairings that end during the Validity Period.


13. Award/Avoid Deadhead Anywhere in Pairing You can use this bid type to tell PBS to either award or avoid deadhead anywhere within a pairing. Options: • There are no unique options for this bid type. Things to keep in mind: • PBS only looks for deadhead legs that start within the Validity Period.

A pairing that has deadhead that occurs outside

14. Award/Avoid Deadhead Ratio This bid type will let you tell PBS what percentage of deadhead you'd like to award or avoid.

It is not necessary to use this statement if you're indifferent about deadhead. By not excluding (avoiding) any specific deadhead ratio, PBS will allow all percentages to be placed into your Bid Group Trip Pool by your AWARD statements.

Options: • You can select Min (least), Max (most) or a Range; selection is in

percent from 0 to 100 in increments of 10. Things to keep in mind: • PBS determines a pairing’s deadhead percentage by dividing the total

deadhead time on a pairing by the total block time (including deadhead). For Example, a pairing with 10 hours of flight time and 5 hours of deadhead would calculate as follows: 5/(10+5)=.333 x 100=33%.

• PBS will only look at pairings that start within the Validity Period.

15. Award/Avoid Legs per Duty You would use this bid type to bid for the number of legs you'd like to award or avoid in a duty period. Options: • The bid will let you choose between two and six legs. You can select

Min (at least), Max (at most) or a Range. Thing to keep in mind: • If you select a date range, PBS will only look at duty periods that

start within that range. • For an Award bid, the number of legs per duty periods within the

Validity Period must equal the total you bid for. • For an Avoid bid, only one of the legs per duty periods must start

within the Validity Period. • PBS uses Local Time for this bid type.


16. Award/Avoid Sit Time You can use this bid type to tell PBS how much sit time you want (or do not want) between legs in a duty. Options: • You can preference sit time in 30-minute increments up to eight

hours. You can select More Than, Less Than or a Range. Things to keep in mind: • PBS will look at any pairing that touches – even by one minute – the

Validity Period. The sit time must be within the specified Validity Period for all legs in all duty periods of the pairing.

17. Award/Avoid Airport

Use this bid type to let PBS know you want to fly (or avoid flying) pairings that operate through a particular airport. Options: • You can select any airport from a drop down menu. Things to keep in mind: • PBS will look at any pairing that touches – even by one minute – the

Validity Period. Also, PBS will look at the entire pairing, not just the part inside the Validity Period.

• A pairing may be awarded or avoided if it touches the Airport just once.

• Don’t confuse this bid type with “Award/Avoid Layover Station and Layover Length.”

• This Bid Line could be used to avoid a Layover Station, but this is not the best method (see the previous discussion “Award/Avoid Layover Station”).

18. Avoid Airport with Missing Qualification

Use this bid type to tell PBS not to assign you a pairing that touches a special airport(s) for which you are not currently qualified. Options: • You will see a drop down menu that lists all the airport(s) that you

are not qualified to fly into. You can also select ALL to avoid all airports on that list.

Things to keep in mind: • This bid type will avoid any pairing that touches the airport(s) you

indicate. • PBS will look at any pairing that touches – even by one minute – the

Validity Period. Also, PBS will look at the entire pairing, not just the part inside the range.

• A pairing will be avoided if it touches the specified airport(s) just once.

• PBS may assign an airport(s) you are missing qualifications for unless you specifically bid to AVOID that airport(s).


• If you are qualified but not current, you must use the Avoid Airport command to ensure that you are not awarded that airport.

19. Award/Avoid Time Away From Base

Use this to tell PBS how much time away from base you want (or do not want) for a pairing. Options: • You can preference TAFB up to 100 hours in one-hour increments.

Choose from More Than, Less Than or a Range. Things to keep in mind: • PBS will look at any pairing that touches – even by one minute – the


20. Award/Avoid Premium Credit Value per Day

You can use this bid type to tell PBS how much Premium Credit Value you want (or do not want) to have per day on your pairings.

Premium Credit Value is a way to compare the relative pay value of similar pairings. A percentage of total deadhead time (currently 50%) is added to the total block time of a pairing. Then, a percentage of total block time flown on premium aircraft types (currently 10%) is added.

Options: • You can enter a value from four to 10 hours in 10-minute

increments. You can select More Than, Less Than or a Range. Things to keep in mind: • For this bid type, PBS divides the total Premium Value of a pairing

by the number of days the pairing touches (even by just one minute).

• PBS will only look at pairings that start within the Validity Period. • HINT: You may find this bid type more useful as a filtering tool

when planning your bid groups than as an actual bid within your Bid Groups.

21. Award/Avoid Premium Aircraft Ratio

This bid type lets you tell PBS what percentage of each pairing you would like (or not like) to be flown on premium aircraft types. This bid can also be used in place of, or with, “Award/Avoid Aircraft Type” to maximize time flown on specific premium aircraft. Options: • The bid type will accept values from 0 to 100% in 10% increments.

You can select Min (at least), Max (at most) or a Range. Things to keep in mind:



22. Award/Avoid Average Pairing Block per Duty This bid type lets you tell PBS how much block per duty period you want (or do not want) on your pairings. Options: • This bid type will accept values between four and 12 hours in 10-

minute increments. You can select Min (at least), Max (at most) or a Range.

Things to keep in mind: • PBS calculates the pairing block per duty by dividing total block on

the pairing by the number of duty periods performed • PBS will only look at pairings that start within the Validity Period.

23. Award/Avoid Average Pairing Block per Day This bid type lets you tell PBS how much block per day you want (or do not want) on your pairings. Options: • This bid type will accept values between four and 12 hours in 10-

minute increments. You can select Min (at least), Max (at most) or a Range.

Things to keep in mind: • PBS calculates the pairing block per day by dividing total block on

the pairing by the number of days touched (even by just one minute) by the pairing. Use caution with pairing block-in times after 2331 local. The required 15- or 30-minute debriefing time may extend the actual release time into the next calendar day. This would change a pairing that was otherwise three days in length into a 4-day pairing.


24. Award/Avoid Aircraft Type Use this bid to tell PBS what Aircraft you want to fly on. Options: Depending on your fleet, you will see the following options: • 737: 733,735,738,739,73G, Premium (738 & 739) • 757: 757,767, Premium (767) • 777: 777, Premium (777) Things to keep in mind: • “Premium” indicates all aircraft types with a higher pay category.

Only one leg of a pairing must contain the aircraft type that you have specified to be considered by PBS.

• PBS will look at any pairing that touches – even by one minute – the


Validity Period. Also, PBS will look at the entire pairing, not just the part inside the Validity Period. This could mean that you are assigned a pairing that starts during the Validity Period but the actual leg flown on the Aircraft Type you bid for is outside the Validity Period.

25. Award/Avoid Flight Number

You can use this to bid to fly (or not fly) a specific flight number. Options:

• You can manually enter a four-digit flight number. Things to keep in mind: • As long as at least one leg has the flight number you entered, PBS

will look at that pairing. • PBS will only look at pairings with the selected Flight Number that

start within the Validity Period. • For the validity period, PBS uses local time when looking at this bid

type.

26. Award/Avoid IRO Pairing This bid type is available only to First Officers. It lets you tell PBS whether you want (or do not want) IRO pairings. Options: • There are no unique options for this bid type. Things to keep in mind: • PBS will look at any pairing that touches – even by one minute – the


27. Award/Avoid Flying With

This bid type is available only to First Officers. This lets you tell PBS which captains you want (or do not want) to fly with. Options: • If you are using this bid to AVOID, you can enter the employee ID of

up to TWO captains. • If you are using this bid to AWARD, you can enter the employee ID

of up to FIVE captains. Things to keep in mind: • You must enter a new bid statement for each Employee ID you are

bidding to Award or Avoid. • PBS does not have the ability to let you look up an employee’s ID. It

is a good idea to look these up before entering PBS. • PBS will look at any pairing that touches – even by one minute – the

Validity Period.


28. Award/Avoid Premium Credit Value per Duty You can use this bid type to tell PBS how much Premium Credit Value you want (or do not want) to have per duty period on your pairings. Premium Credit Value is a way to compare the relative pay value of similar pairings. A percentage of total deadhead time (currently 75%, changing to 100% in July, 2007) is added to the total block time of a pairing. Then, a percentage of total block time flown on premium aircraft types (currently 10%) is added. Options: • You can enter a value from four to 10 hours in 10-minute

increments. You can select More Than, Less Than or a Range. Things to keep in mind: • For this bid type, PBS divides the total Premium Value of a pairing

by the number of duty periods in the pairing. • PBS will only look at pairings that start within the Validity Period. • NOTE: You may find this bid type more useful as a filtering tool

when planning your bid groups than as an actual bid within your Bid Groups.

29. Award/Avoid Average Pairing Credit per Day

You can use this bid type to tell PBS how much average Pairing Credit Value you want (or do not want) to have per day on your pairings. Pairing Credit per Day is a way to ensure you receive an average productivity per day for the entire pairing. For example, “AWARD Average Pairing Credit Per Day >= 5:00” on a four day trip would ensure you receive at least 20 hour four-day trips in your trip pool. Deadhead is valued at 0% Options: • You can enter a value from four to 12 hours in 10-minute

increments. You can select More Than, Less Than or a Range. Things to keep in mind: • For this bid type, PBS divides the total pairing credit by the number

of days the pairing touches (even by just one minute). • PBS will only look at pairings that start within the Validity Period. • PBS values Deadhead at 0% when calculating credit and does not

look at its pay value. For example: a four-day trip with 10 hours of actual flight time and 10 hours of deadhead would calculate as 2:30 hours of Average Credit Per Day.


30. Award/Avoid Average Pairing Credit per Duty You can use this bid type to tell PBS how much average pairing credit value you want (or do not want) to have per duty period on your pairings. Average Pairing Credit per Duty is a way to ensure you receive an average productivity per duty period for the entire pairing. For example, “AWARD Average Pairing Credit Per Duty >= 7:00” could yield you a four day trip, with two duty periods, with at least 14 hours credit for the trips. Options: • You can enter a value from four to 12 hours in 10-minute

increments. You can select More Than, Less Than or a Range. Things to keep in mind: • For this bid type, PBS divides the total pairing credit by the number

of duty periods in the pairing. • PBS will only look at pairings that start within the Validity Period. • PBS values Deadhead at 0% when calculating credit and does not

look at its pay value. For example: a trip with four duty periods with 10 hours of actual flight time and 10 hours of deadhead would calculate as 2:30 hours of Credit Per Duty.

• HINT: You may find this bid type more useful as a filtering tool when planning your bid groups than as an actual bid within your Bid Groups.

31. Award/Avoid Number of Duties

You can use this bid type to tell PBS how many duty periods you want (or do not want) in your pairings. Options: • Exactly (Equal To), Min (Less Than), Max (More than) or a Range

of lengths. You can select values of one to 10 days. Things to keep in mind: • PBS will use this number of duty periods without regard to days on

duty. You should not use this command to specify how long you want your trips to be, but rather you could use it to avoid extended layovers within trips.

• PBS will apply this bid type to pairings that start during the Validity Period.


Validity Periods Most AWARD and AVOID bid types allow you to specify a date range (i.e., from Jan. 15 to Jan. 31), a range of days of the week (i.e., from Monday to Wednesday) or both (i.e., from Monday, Jan 15 to Wednesday, Jan. 31) for which the statement is applicable. This date range is referred to as a Validity Period. When created, each new award or avoid statement has a dated Validity Period. By default, this date range is from the first day of the Bid Period to the last day of the Bid Period. (See note below for carry-out pairings.*) You can change this range to reflect more desirable dates. Entering a date period means that the bid statement applies only to the range of dates you indicate. For example, a bid line “Award Layover Station and Length Any SFO Jan 15 to Jan 31” indicates a desire for SFO layovers, but only during the last half of the month. You can also select a weekly Validity Period. This allows you to set a range of days of the week applicable to the bid statement. For example, “AVOID Layover Station and Length Any CDG, FRI - SUN” indicates a desire to avoid pairings with CDG layovers that touch Friday through Sunday. In this example, (assuming CDG is a 3-day pairing) only pairings that start on Monday or Tuesdays could be included in your Bid Group Trip Pool, as all other CDG pairings would touch Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Some award and avoid statements interpret Validity Periods differently. One award may require pairings to start within the Validity Period, while another may require the pairing to be entirely within the Validity Period. The following section will list all of the Award and Avoid statements and how Validity Periods are interpreted by each one. You do not need to remember which Validity Period is used by each award and avoid statement. When a particular statement is selected, the type of Validity Period pertaining to it is displayed next to the date selection drop-down menu. * In order to handle Carry-Out Pairings properly, PBS will assume that any dated Validity Period that ends on the last day of the Bid Period extends seven days into the next month. This does not necessarily mean that you will be assigned a carry-out pairing; it means that PBS will respect your preferences if it does assign one.


PBS looks at the pairing show and/or release times to determine if the pairing is within the Validity Period. Use caution when the last flying segment of a pairing ends between 2331 and 2346. The contractual 15 minute (30 minutes international) de-brief time will result in the release time extending into the next calendar day. For example, a Bid Line “Award Pairing Length <= 3-days, MON - FRI” would not consider a pairing starting on Wednesday that is otherwise 3-days in length but arrives on the last flying segment on the last day at 2355 because the release time is 0010 on Saturday – outside of the Validity Period. This late release time would also result in the pairing being considered as a 4-day pairing, not a 3-day pairing.

“Avoid Duty Time Within Pairing” statement does NOT use the pairing report/release time, but rather the actual duty time within the pairing.


The Guarantee Line The G-line is little more than a marker indicating the most junior pilot who will be guaranteed to receive a flight line if they bid for one. Also, pilots below the g-line may go through different steps in Denial Mode.

The G-line does not control the number of lines that PBS will build.

The system is designed to allow pilots below the G-line to be awarded lines until it hits a target between minimum and maximum reserve coverage that are set prior to the start of the bid period by the System Staffing Committee and the company.


Reserve Bidding

Bidding reserve can be a confusing endeavor. First let’s take a look at the “Reserve Bidding Flow Chart” to determine PBS will process our reserve bids based upon our relative seniority, and then we’ll take a moment to discuss the particulars of bidding reserve.


Entering a bid for a reserve line is slightly different than bidding to be a line holder. To bid reserve, you must create a reserve bid group(s) instead of flight bid group(s). You will then only see the options that are specific to reserves, such as “Set A or B reserves” Once this SET statement is entered, PBS will treat the entire Bid Group as a bid for a Reserve Line. This means that ONLY the following Bid Statements will be processed: • Set Reserve – see section on Sets • Set Length of Work Block – see section on Sets • Set Number of Days Off Between Work Blocks – see section on Sets • Set Number of Work Blocks – see section on Sets • Waive Min Days Off – see section on Waives • Waive Min Days Off Between Work Blocks – see section on Waives • Avoid Reserve Day(s) – see below • Award Movable – see below The last major difference with reserve bid groups is that you do not have to include an award statement. This is because PBS automatically adds an AWARD Reserve Days – LOW to the bottom of a reserve bid group. The “Avoid Reserve Days” statement is used to designate immovable days off. The “Award Movable” statement is used to designate when you would prefer to have your movable days off assigned. 1. Avoid Reserve Days *Use for Immovable Days Off*

This bid type is for Reserve Pilots only. This will let you specify your IMMOVABLE days off.

Because this is an AVOID bid type used to AWARD Immovable days off, please read this section carefully before using it! You should be completely familiar with the Reserve sections of the contract as well so you comply with award restrictions. Failure to heed the contract is a quick way to fail your bid!

This bid type tells PBS you want Immovable Days Off by working in REVERSE. Instead of telling PBS in an Award statement “I want to have the 12th and 13th as my immovable days off,” you tell PBS with an AVOID statement “I do not want to work or be assigned a reserve day or movable day off on the 12th and 13th.” This leaves the system with basically two choices: it must assign an immovable day off or fail the bid group.


Options: • There are no unique options for this bid type. You will, however,

want to change the date range to indicate the day(s) you would like assigned as immovable.

Things to keep in mind: • Setting the date range incorrectly can cause the overall Bid

Group (and potentially all Bid Groups) to fail. Bidding for more than the total number of immovable days that you are entitled to will cause your bid group to fail. Bidding for more than two groups of immovable days off will also cause your bid group to fail. See the Day Off Proration Table (available in the “Reports” section on the “Crew Info” screen on PBS) to determine your total movable and immovable days off (eight immovable and four movable for a month with no pre-assignments.)

• There is no requirement to bid for all of your available immovable days off. Bidding for less than the total available immovable days will allow PBS the flexibility of sliding your block(s) of immovable days around to afford you the greatest chance of having your requests honored. This strategy is particularly useful if you only have one or two days off you are trying to protect.

2. Award Movable

This bid type is for Reserve Pilots only. This will let you bid for when you would like your Movable Days Off to be.

Options: • There are no unique options for this Bid Type. You will just need

to indicate the date range(s) you are bidding for. Things to keep in mind • This is an Award statement. This Bid Line does not guarantee

when your moveable days off will be assigned; it only creates Bid Group Trip Pools of movable days off.

• Remember you can enter more than one award statement to create multiple Bid Group Trip Pools. In other words, unlike the “AVOID Reserve Days” Bid Line discussed above, you can enter multiple dates in multiple “Award Movable” Bid Lines that exceed the four movable days off awarded on each reserve line. PBS will select from the multiple available Bid Group Trip Pools to create a legal Reserve line.

• It is possible to be awarded a Reserve line that includes none of your requested Movable Days Off! This is because, as previously mentioned, PBS adds the command AWARD Reserve Days - LOW for the entire bid month at the end of each of reserve bid groups. A higher-weighted award statement will still be preferred by PBS, however, like any other award statement, those requests are not guaranteed.


Considerations When Building a Reserve Bid Reserve bids are actually more difficult from a bidding standpoint primarily because it is MUCH easier to fail a reserve bid group if the pilot is unaware of the contract restrictions regarding reserve awards. Some important considerations:

• Pilots who are ABOVE the G-line and bid reserve first will be placed back in the flight line solution if their reserve bid groups cannot be awarded. A prudent pilot will bid backup flight line bid groups below his reserve bid just in case his reserve bid groups fail to keep from entering denial mode.

• Pilots who are BELOW the g-line who bid flight line groups first may

or may not have their reserve groups processed. If the pilot can hold a flight line, their reserve bid groups will NOT be processed; conversely, if they cannot hold a flight line they will be placed in the reserve solution. An alternate view is a pilot below the G-line trying for a flight line should consider his flight line and reserve bid groups as two separate bids.

• Immovable days off will be awarded in two separate blocks of 2, 4, or

6 days. Exception: When immovable days off are prorated down to five days or less, they will be awarded in ONE block. (Ref: Contract '02 Section 25.PBS Part 7 - Awards Par. E.)

• Days of Reserve availability may be constructed in blocks of three

(3), four (4), five (5), or six (6) days; however, blocks of one (1) or two (2) days of reserve availability may be awarded at the beginning or end of the month to meet schedule compatibility from month to month. (Ref: Contract '02 Section 25.PBS Part 7 - Awards Par. E.)

• A Reserve schedule will be awarded with no less than twelve (12)

Days Off, except in accordance with the Proration Table in Part 7, Paragraph I below. The minimum number of days off will be two (2) consecutive days, provided that a single day off may be awarded on the first day of the upcoming bid period that adjoins a block of days off ending on the last day of the current bid period. In other words, if a pilot ends a month with days off, that pilot may be assigned a single additional day off to start the new bid period. (Ref: Contract '02 Section 25.PBS Part 7 - Awards Par. E.)

• If your crew info screen shows less than 12 days off minimum,

consult Contract '02 Section 25.PBS Part 7 - Awards Par. I to see your prorated immovable and movable days off.


• Minimum days of between work blocks can be WAIVED to one at the discretion of the pilot (WAIVE Min Days Off.)

• You can WAIVE up to two days off, but only in a month that is

already restricted. Under no circumstance will this raise your guarantee above 72:00 for an “A” Reserve or 76:00 for a “B” Reserve. A rule of thumb: no pre-assignments, no waive.

• If you ended the last month with six days on duty, you WILL be

assigned days off on the first day of the new month. The "one-day" option will only be used if there is no legal way to award the line otherwise.

• When bidding immovable days off (AVOID Reserve Days), the

system must be able to comply with the request EXACTLY. For example: You want the 20-22nd off so you...

AVOID Reserve Days 20 Jan - 24 Jan AVOID Reserve Days 10 Jan - 14 Jan

This is fine as long as those EXACT days are available to you. A better solution is to bid ONLY those days you really want off:

AVOID Reserve Days 20 Jan - 22 Jan Now the system is able to "fill-out" the rest of your immovable days off with the days that ARE available.


Bid Groups and Trip Pools


How to Access PBS Finding PBS You access PBS through CCS. Just log in to CCS as you normally would. Once you are logged in, go to the menu at the top of the screen and select <Bidding>. Next, select <PBS> from the drop down menu.

PBS will open in a new Browser window, and you will be ready to get started. The Crew Info Screen The crew information screen will show you at a glance all your known absences (including training, vacation, etc) on the calendar as well as your block hours accumulated, and your BES seniority.


Navigation The drop down menu in the upper right corner lets you change screens within PBS. Right now, you are on the Crew Info Screen. If you want to start bidding, select Bidding from the drop down menu. You can also close the PBS window and log out by selecting EXIT PBS from the same menu. Calendar This calendar displays all of the known pre-assignments on your schedule (e.g., carry-in pairings, military leave/drill weekend, training, vacation, etc.).

Crew Info This portion of the screen displays your basic information such as base, equipment and status (BES).

Line Credit This section gives you information about the “pre-assigned” line credit already on your line, including a total. This Line Credit number is for Line Construction purposes only. This value is not used for payroll purposes in any manner. Block This section shows your Calendar Year and Rolling 12-Month Block totals. These are used by PBS when calculating domestic and international FAR or contractual legalities.


Seniority This section shows your seniority in your equipment and base.

Reports This section is where your Bid Award and Reasons Reports will appear after your schedule has been awarded, as well as, monthly bid information and other information the Company wishes to publish.

The Bidding Screen


The Bid Group Tab-Bar You can click on the tabs located on the Bid Groups Bar to switch between the bid groups screen, overview from previous month, compare current month, overview previous month, and Standing Bids. This section of the manual will describe more information about the Bid Groups Screen. Later sections will review Overviews and Standing Bids.

The Bid Group Toolbar You can use the Bid Group Tool Set to create a Bid Group or to modify an existing Bid Group.

The icons, from left to right, are: • Bid Group Menu: Select the Bid Group you want to work with from the

drop down menu. Bid Groups that have not been submitted will be marked with an asterisk (*). All Bid Groups must have been submitted (i.e., no asterisk *) to be considered by PBS.

• New Flight Line Bid Group: Creates a new Flight Line Bid Group. • New Reserve Bid Group: Creates a new Reserve Line Bid Group. • Delete: Deletes the current Bid Group. • Move Up: Moves the current Bid Group UP one on the Bid Group List. If

you move Bid Group 3 up once, it will become Bid Group 2. (The Bid Row that used to be #2 becomes #3.)

• Move Down: Moves the current Bid Group DOWN one on the Bid Group List. If you move Bid Group 3 down once, it will become Bid Group 4. (The Bid Row that used to be #4 becomes #3.)

• Copy bid Group: Copies the current Bid Group. The copy will be added to the end of the Bid Group List and will always be Open. In other words, if you are working on Bid Group #6, selecting Copy Bid will create Bid Group #7. You will need to edit and submit the new Bid Group for Bid Group #7 to be considered by the PBS program.

• Open/Submit: This button changes depending on whether or not the Bid Group you have selected is Open or Submitted. It lets you re-open submitted Bid Groups and vice versa. Remember: PBS will only look at SUBMITTED Bid Group(s) during the Award Process. Always double check your Bid Group lists before exiting the PBS program. None of your Bid Groups with an asterisk (*) next to the number will be considered for your award!


The Bid Row Toolbar The Bid Row Toolbar is similar in look and function to the Bid Group Toolbar. This toolset is grayed out until one of the bid rows has been selected with a checkmark for editing or position change. It is also grayed out if the Bid Group has already been submitted.

The icons, from left to right, are: • Create New Bid Row: Creates a new bid row. • Delete: Deletes selected Bid Row(s). • Edit: Lets you edit the selected Bid Row. • Move Up: Moves the current Bid Row UP one on the Bid Row List. If

you move Bid Row 3 up once, it will become Bid Row 2. (The Bid Row that used to be #2 becomes #3.)

• Move Down: Moves the current Bid Row DOWN one on the Bid Row List. If you move Bid Row 3 down once, it will become Bid Row 4. (The Bid Row that used to be #4 becomes #3.)

• Move To Specific Bid Row: Launches a pop-up box that lets you enter the bid row number you want to move the selected bid row to. (The Bid Row that used to be that number becomes the next lowest number. For example, moving Bid Row #8 to Bid Row #2 would make the old Bid Row #2 into #3, #3 would become #4, etc.)

• Select All: Selects all Bid Rows. • Deselect All: Deselects all Bid Rows. • Copy: Copies the selected Bid Row to the last row in the Bid Group.

You use the tabs on the top of this Bar to switch from the Bid Row Display to the Filtering Display. See the Filter section of this document for more info on Filtering. Bid Row Display is explained later in this section.

The Bid Row Window This window shows one row for each of the bids you have entered. By clicking on the check box at the beginning of each Bid Row, you can use the Bid Row Toolbar to edit, reorder, copy, edit, or delete your bids.


Overview Screens These screens allow you to view the current month and previous month Bid Groups that you have created. These screens are accessible from the tabs located at the top of the Bid Group block area. Current Month Overview The current month tab allows you to select a Bid Group from the current month to view and compare with other Bid Groups. It will also let you re-order and submit your Bid Groups for the current month.

Current Month Overview Toolbar Use the icons on this toolbar to view and interact with all of your Bid Groups. The icons, from left to right, are: • Delete: This will let you delete the selected Bid Group. • Move Up: This will move the selected Bid Group up by one each time

you click it. If you move Bid Group #3 up once, it will be re-numbered as Bid Group #2. (The Bid Group that used to be #2 becomes #3.)

• Move Down: This will move the selected Bid Group down by one each time you click it. If you move Bid Group #3 down once, it will be re-numbered as Bid Group #4. (The Bid Group that used to be #4 becomes #3.)

• Select All Bid Groups: This lets you select all of your Bid Groups at once. • Deselect All Bid Groups: This will uncheck all checked Bid Groups. • Submit: This button will allow you to submit any selected bid groups.

Current Month Overview List This section lists all of your Bid Groups for the month. Bid Groups followed by an asterisk (*) have not been submitted. Clicking on a Bid Group will cause it to be displayed in the Bid Group View Pane. You can check the checkbox before each Bid group to select it. See the section on the Current Month Overview Toolbar to learn more.


Bid Rows Display (Bid Group View) This displays all the Bid Rows in the Bid Group you have selected in the Current Month Overview List. It is display-only. You cannot edit on this screen. Previous Month Overview The Previous Month Overview Tab lets you look at Bid Groups from the previous month. This will let you look at the Bid Groups you used last month for ideas you can use this month. You can even copy entire Bid Groups into your current month from this screen.

Previous Month Overview Toolbar Use the icons on this toolbar to view and interact with all of your bid groups. The icons, from left to right, are: • Select All Bid Groups: This lets you select all of your Bid Groups at once. • Deselect All Bid Groups: This will uncheck all checked Bid Groups. • Copy Selected To Current Period: This lets you copy any Bid Group(s)

that you have selected into the list of Bid Groups you are working on for the current bid period. Copied Bid Groups will be added at the bottom of your list and will always be copied as “open.” You will need to review and submit these Bid Groups in the current bid month to be considered by the PBS program. Once copied, you can go to the Current Month Overview Screen or the Bid Group screen to view them.

Previous Month Overview List This section lists all of your Bid Groups for the previous month. Clicking on a Bid Group will cause it to be displayed in the Bid Group View Pane. You can check the checkbox before each Bid group to select it. See the section on the Previous Month Overview Toolbar to learn more. Bid Rows Display (Bid Group View) This displays all the Bid Lines in the Bid Group you selected in the Previous Month Overview List. It is display-only. You cannot edit these Bid Lines.


Standing Bid

The Standing Bid Group screen is reached by clicking on the Standing Bid Group Tab while on the Bidding Screen.

Your Standing Bid is only used by PBS if you have not submitted any Bid Groups for the month. Even if you only submit one Bid Group, it will cause PBS to ignore your Standing Bid for all purposes

By default, your standing bid is “AWARD Work” for the entire month. Even if you delete every Bid Row in the Standing Bid, PBS will interpret the Standing Bid as “AWARD Work.” Because the Standing Bid is intended to be a generic bid that does not apply specifically to one month, it is a good idea to keep it as simple and broad as possible with any bids you enter here. Avoid bidding for specific days off or for specific pairings, as this could easily cause your Standing Bid to fail. If your Standing Bid fails, PBS will revert to AWARD Work for the entire month to try and build your line. Enter your Standing Bid exactly as you would enter a normal Bid Group. You do not have to click a Submit button when you are finished. PBS will assume your Standing Bid is completed if you navigate away from the screen. Likewise, you do not have to open the Standing Bid to begin editing it.


Filtering PBS has several filtering tools you can use to help plan your Bid Group. They will let you sort through all the pairings to see just the ones you want to see, which pairings were eliminated, as well as let you see the list of pairings in each Bid Line Trip Pool you create. Bid Row Filtering Bid Row Filtering lets you sort all of the available pairings using a particular Bid Row. Enter a “Bid Row” the same way you would have on the Bid Group screen. Once you have all the parameters set, click the button marked “Filter.” You will now see a list of all the pairings returned by that Bid Type.

Click on any pairing to see a pop-up box with all of the pairing details. This will look just like the pairing information you are used to seeing in the monthly Bid Packages. • If you want to look at

another Bid Type, or just see what happens if you change a parameter (or several), change the Bid Type options and click “Filter” again.

• If you like the results and want to add it to your Bid Group, just click the “Save” Button.

Things to keep in mind: • When you filter pairings this way, no other Bid Types from your current


Bid Group are considered. The filtered list only looks at the Bid Type you filtered on.

• Filtering considers all pre-assignments you might have. • Depending on the way more senior pilots bid, many pairings that are

shown on your filter list may not be available when PBS builds your line. The status of those pairings can be determined after the line award process by reviewing your bid award Reasons Report. Information on the Reasons Report can be found on page 74.

Trip Pool Filtering

One of the enhancements that was made to our PBS system since its introduction is the improvement of filtering statistics to better represent the total number of pairings actually available in your Bid Group. As you will see in figure 1 below the pairing filtering statistics show the impact of each AVOID and AWARD statement as well as to show you the actual number of unique pairings remaining in the trip pool.


Definitions:

Let’s begin by taking a closer look at the meaning of each of the statistics columns.

Impact: The total number of pairings removed (AVOID) or added (AWARD) to the cumulative pool from the previous “available” total

Match: The total number of pairings in the entire BES that match the specific bid row

Available: The total number of pairings available to chose from that have not been excluded by avoids

Pool: The total number of unique pairings left remaining in the trip pool, and subsequently, the Bid Group.

Example:

Let’s take the above example and dissect each statistic. As we begin, prior to removing any pairings from the pool, you will notice on the first row there are 481 unique pairings “available” in this particular BES.

Impact

When we add the first bid row “AVOID Legs per Duty…” you will notice the “Impact” this had on your available pairings based upon the previous “Avail” of 481. It shows that 58 pairings were removed which was 12% of your remaining available pairings. This “remaining available pairings” is the key phrase here as once you get to your second and subsequent bid rows, the numbers are not based upon number of overall pairings in your BES, but rather the pairings left remaining in your available column from your previous bid row. We’ll explain more in a minute.


Match

For this example, we have moved to bid row 2. In this column you will see the total number of pairings that “Match” your bid row out of the entire BES. You will notice that 141 pairings “Matched” this bid row out of all the pairings in the BES, however, if you take a look over at the “Impact” column, you will see that only 118 were removed from the trip pool by this statement. The reason behind this is that 23 of these pairings in the “Match” column also matched the avoid statement in bid row 1 and were already removed by the previous “AVOID” statement. This is part of what we mean by the new filtering statistics showing you a cumulative number of actual pairings in the trip pool.

Available

This column is fairly straightforward. It shows you the total number of pairings that are available to choose from. In other words, this column simply shows you the total number of pairings in your BES that you have not excluded using an “AVOID” statement. NOTE: These pairings are not included in your trip pool until you add some (or all) of them in by utilizing an AWARD statement. In figure 6, you will see that there are 305 pairings available to choose from (481 total in BES, minus 58, minus 118)

Pool

This brings us to the “Pool” column. This is the most important column as it shows you how many unique individual pairings you have in your trip pool (and subsequently, your bid group). On the top of the next page, you will see that in bid rows 1 and 2 there are no pairings included in the trip pool. This is due to the fact that an award statement has not been added to the bid group. Once an award statement is used in bid row 3, you will


see that 185 pairings out of the 305 “available” pairings were added to the trip pool.

Things to keep in mind: • Remember that AVOID statements stack. Each AVOID statement will

apply to every AVOID and AWARD statement below it in the Bid Group. For a more detailed discussion of this topic refer to Bid Group and Trip Pool section, page 40.

• Seniority is not taken into account when filtering Bid Line Trip Pools during the bidding process. The actual number of Pairings that are available to PBS when it builds your line may be considerably smaller based on your seniority and the way more senior pilots have bid. The Reasons Report provided with your Bid Award will provide information on all pairings.

• Pre-assignments are considered by filtering so that the trips you see in the trip filtering will not conflict with your pre-assignments.

• You should always view the list of available pairings to ensure an even distribution of potential pairings throughout the month. Using the Bid Line statements from above, if the 185 pairings only operated from the 1st thru the 10th , it may be very difficult to award a legal line within a 10-day period, given pilot pre-assignments or pairings awarded to more senior pilots.


Denial Mode If all of your Bid Groups fail, PBS will relax your last bid group through a process known as Denial Mode. PBS does this by creating additional bid groups until it can successfully award you a flight or reserve line. Determining which denial mode you will receive can be tricky; it is based upon your relative seniority position and, sometimes, how other pilots bid. The following is a flow chart to help you determine which denial mode you may encounter. You will notice some similarities between this chart and the “Reserve Bidding Flow Chart” under the reserve section.


The following are the various Denial mode scenarios: • Above the G-Line

o Flight line denial o Reserve line denial

Reserve A Denial Reserve B Denial

• Below the G-line o Flight line denial o Reserve line denial

Reserve A Denial Reserve B Denial

o Bidding for line, but too junior to hold one Now that we’ve been able to determine which of the denial modes you can expect to encounter, let us take a look at the different steps PBS will use in degrading your last valid bid group.

Flight Line Denial Mode The steps of denial are the same for both above and below the G-line for the “Flight Line Denial Mode.” You will enter “Flight Line Denial Mode” under the following conditions: • Above the G-line bidding for a flight line • Below the G-line bidding for a flight line and senior enough to hold one • Below the G-line junior-assigned into a flight line Denial mode group #1: • All Credit waives remain • All Day Off waives remain • All SETs remain • All AWARDs remain with current limits • All AVOIDs remain • Add AWARD WORK with LOW weight for entire bid period+7days

below all other AWARD/AVOID Denial mode group #2: • All Credit waives remain • All Day Off waives remain • All SETs remain - except SET LINE CREDIT RANGE is removed (if

existing) • All AWARDs remain with current limits • All AVOIDs remain • Add AWARD WORK with LOW weight for entire bid period+7days

below all other AWARD/AVOID


Denial mode group #3: • All Credit waives removed • All Day Off waives remain • All SETs removed • All AWARDs remain with removed limits • All AVOIDs remain • Add AWARD WORK with LOW weight for entire bid period+7days

below all other AWARD/AVOID Denial mode group #4: • All Credit waives removed • All Day Off waives remain • All SETs removed • All AWARDs remain with removed limits • All AVOIDs remain • Add AWARD WORK with LOW weight for entire bid period+7days

above all other AWARD/AVOID

Reserve Denial Above the G-Line The first bid group has to be a reserve bid group for a pilot above the G-line to be considered for a reserve line. Reserve Denial Mode is entered if the pilot has only reserve bid groups and none of them can be granted (all immovable day off requests could not be awarded.)

Above the G-line, reserve denial mode is never entered if there is at least one flight bid group.

If the last reserve bid group cannot be fulfilled and flight line bid groups exist below it, denial mode is not entered and the pilot is moved to the flight line solution (i.e. if a reserve line cannot be awarded according to the consecutive top reserve bid groups, the pilot is moved to the flight line solution.)

Note that as soon as the first flight bid group is encountered, evaluation of reserve bid groups stops. This means that any reserve bid group below a flight bid group will never be evaluated.

Above the G-line – If “A” Reserve in last bid group of only reserve bid groups Denial mode group #1: • All Day Off waives remains • All SETs are removed - except SET RESERVE LINE = A which

remains the same


• All AWARDs remain • All AVOIDs remain • Add AWARD RESERVE_DAYS with LOW weight for entire bid

period+7 days *below all other AWARD/AVOID Denial mode group #2: • All Day Off waives remains • All SETs are removed - except SET RESERVE LINE = A, which is

changed to B • All AWARDs remain • All AVOIDs remain • Add AWARD RESERVE_DAYS with LOW weight for entire bid

period+7 days *below all other AWARD/AVOID Denial mode group #3: • All Day Off waives remains • All SETs are removed - except SET RESERVE LINE = A which

remain the same • All AWARDs remain • All AVOID RESERVE DAY(S) are turned into AWARD MOVABLE with

weight HIGH • Add AWARD RESERVE DAYS with LOW weight for entire bid

period+7 days Denial mode group #4: • All Day Off waives remains • All SETs are removed - except SET RESERVE LINE = A, which is

changed to B • All AWARDs remain • All AVOID RESERVE DAY(S) are turned into AWARD MOVABLE with


period+7 days Denial mode group #5: • All Day Off waives remain • Everything else is removed • Add AWARD WORK with LOW weight for entire bid period+7 days


Above the G-line - If “B” Reserve in last bid group of only reserve bid groups

Denial mode group #1: • All Day Off waives remain • All SETs are removed

• except: SET RESERVE LINE = B which remain the same • All AWARDs remain • All AVOIDs remain • Add AWARD RESERVE DAYS with LOW weight for entire bid

period+7 days below all other AWARD/AVOID Denial mode group #2: • All Day Off waives remains • All SETs are removed

• except: SET RESERVE LINE = B which remain the same • All AWARDs remain • All AVOID RESERVE DAY(S) are turned into AWARD MOVABLE with


period+7 days Denial mode group #3: • All Day Off waives remains • Everything else is removed • Add AWARD WORK with LOW weight for entire bid period+7 days

Bid Processing examples above the G-Line

BG 1

BG 2

BG 3

BG 4

Comment

L R R R Goes directly to the Line solution since first BG is for a Line. The three R BGs will never be evaluated.

R R L R

Only BG 1 and BG 2 will be evaluated in Reserve run since the next BG is a L BG. Reserve Denial mode will not be entered. BG 4 will never be evaluated.

R R R R Reserve Denial mode will be entered for BG 4 if none of the BGs can be granted.


Reserve Denial Below the G-Line Bid groups will be evaluated until one is awarded. An awarded flight line bid group in this context is an empty line, and the pilot is moved to the flight line solution. If the last bid group cannot be granted, denial mode is entered for the last reserve bid group. If there are no reserve bid groups, denial mode is entered for the last flight bid group.

Below the G-line - If “A” Reserve in last reserve bid group Denial mode group #1: • All Day Off waives remains • All SETs are removed - except SET RESERVE LINE = A which

remains the same • All AWARDs remain • All AVOIDs remain • Add AWARD RESERVE_DAYS with LOW weight for entire bid

period+7 days below all other AWARD/AVOID Denial mode group #2: • All Day Off waives remains • All SETs are removed - except SET RESERVE LINE = A, which is

changed to B • All AWARDs remain • All AVOIDs remain • Add AWARD RESERVE_DAYS with LOW weight for entire bid

period+7 days below all other AWARD/AVOID Denial mode group #3: • All Day Off waives remains • All SETs are removed - except SET RESERVE LINE = A which

remain the same • All AWARDs remain • All AVOID RESERVE DAY(S) are turned into AWARD MOVABLE with

weight HIGH • Add AWARD RESERVE DAYS with LOW weight for entire bid period+7 days Denial mode group #4: • All Day Off waives remains • All SETs are removed - except SET RESERVE LINE = A, which is

changed to B • All AWARDs remain • All AVOID RESERVE DAY(S) are turned into AWARD MOVABLE with

weight HIGH • Add AWARD RESERVE DAYS with LOW weight for entire bid period+7 days


Denial mode group #5: • All Day Off waives remains • Everything else is removed • Add AWARD WORK with LOW weight for entire bid period+7days

Below the G-line - If “B” Reserve in last reserve bid group Denial mode group #1: • All Day Off waives remains • All SETs are removed

• except: SET RESERVE LINE = B which remain the same • All AWARDs remain • All AVOIDs remain • Add AWARD RESERVE DAYS with LOW weight for entire bid

period+7 days below all other AWARD/AVOID • Denial mode group #2: • All Day Off waives remains • All SETs are removed

• except SET RESERVE LINE = B which remain the same • All AWARDs remain • All AVOID RESERVE DAY(S) are turned into AWARD MOVABLE with


period+7 days Denial mode group #3: • All Day Off waives remains • Everything else is removed • Add AWARD WORK with LOW weight for entire bid period+7days

Below the G-line - If flight line in last bid group and there are only flight bid groups Denial mode group #1: • All Day Off waives remain • Everything else is removed • Add SET RESERVE LINE = B • Add AWARD RESERVE DAYS with NEUTRAL weight for entire bid

period+7 days


Bid processing examples below the G-Line

BG 1

BG 2

BG 3

BG 4

Comment

L R R R

Moves to flight line if ANY line can be awarded. If cannot hold a flight line and none of the three R BGs can be granted, denial mode is entered for BG 4.

R R L R

If BG 1 and BG 2 cannot be granted but can hold ANY line, moves to flight line solution. If cannot hold any line BG4 processed. Denial mode is entered for BG 4.

L R L L

Moves to flight line solution if ANY line can be awarded. If not, BG 2 processed, denial mode is entered for BG 2. BG 3 & 4 will never be evaluated.

L L L L If ANY line can be awarded, then flight line denial mode, if not, reserve denial mode entered.


Bid Award Results

Once PBS has processed your award, the awarded line will be displayed in PBS under the “Crew Info” screen. The line is loaded into CMS/CCS and all future changes are made in the CMS/CCS Master Schedule. The award displayed in PBS will not show any changes made to your schedule for operational reasons. Remember to check CCS for the most up-to-date version of your schedule.

Trip trades for the last seven days of the current month and for the entirety of the next month will not be available, as per Contract ’02, until your line is loaded into your “Master Schedule” in CCS. The reason for this is to prevent a trip trade from creating FAR and/or contractual conflicts with your PBS award.

Bid Award Report The Bid Award Report will contain a summary of your line award, a line display showing daily activities and detailed pairing information. The report looks very similar to the lines and pairings that you are used to seeing in the Bid Packages. The Reasons Report The Reasons Report helps you understand why a bid group failed. The report evaluates your bidding on three different levels: Bid Types, Bid Groups and Pairings. When you look at your Reasons Report, you will see that two special types of “pools” are referenced. To get the most from the report, you will need to understand what these terms mean:

1. Pool Of Available Pairings – Think of this pool as all the pairings still left in your BES after PBS has awarded lines to all of the pilots senior to you. The PBS program will use this same starting pool for each of your Bid Groups. For each Bid Group, PBS starts with this pool of remaining pairings and applies all of your AVOID Bid Lines against it. Keep in mind that PBS starts over completely using the pool of all remaining pairings when it starts to look at another one of your Bid Groups. Failed Bid Groups have no impact on the awarded Bid Group. 2. Bid Group Trip Pool – This pool is made up of all the pairings selected by your AWARD Bid Lines. This pool is completely empty when PBS starts to create your line. When you enter an AWARD bid, PBS takes a look into the remaining pool of all available pairings and finds all of the pairings that meet the


requirements of the bid. These pairings make up an individual Bid Line Trip Pool. PBS collects all of the Trip Pools for each Bid Line into the Bid Group Trip Pool. Keep in mind that PBS empties this Bid Group Trip Pool and starts over completely with the pool of remaining pairings when it looks at a different Bid Group. Your Reasons Report will show trips as “Awarded” in Bid Groups that failed; this is because those trips were also in the Bid Group Trip Pool from the Bid Group that was ultimately awarded.

Reasons at the Bid Type Level

For each AVOID and AWARD statement, you will see how many pairings were impacted by your bids.

AVOID Bids Each AVOID statement will be followed by a line that tells you how many pairings the bid removed from the Pool of Available Pairings. Example: “AVOID: WORK DATED 26 AUG” 5 trip(s) removed from the pool of available pairings. In this case, bidding to AVOID work on Aug. 26 took five pairings out of the pool of available pairings. Once removed, these five pairings became unavailable to PBS when building your Bid Group Trip Pool. Keep in mind that your pool of available pairings starts out filled with all the pairings available to you at your seniority level. In this case, if we assume there were 200 pairings remaining in your BES, the AVOID bid shrank the pool to 195 pairings. AWARD Bids Each AWARD statement will be followed by a line that tells you how many pairings this bid added to your Bid Group Trip Pool. Example: “AWARD PAIRING NUMBER 111” 1 trip(s) added to the bid group trip pool (2 matching, 1 available, 1 assignable) In this case, the AWARD bid added one trip to the Bid Group Trip Pool. Each AWARD statement also has another line that helps give you a more complete picture of your bid. Example: “AWARD PAIRING NUMBER 111” 1 trip(s) added to the bid group trip pool (2 matching, 1 available, 1 assignable) Matching: Tells you how many pairings exist that meet the requirements of your bid. This is the total number of matching pairings in your BES, not in your pool of available pairings. In our example, PBS found two pairings in the BES that had Pairing Number 111.


Available: Tells you how many pairings in the pool of matching pairings were still available at your seniority level, and did not conflict with any pre-assignments already on your schedule. In the example, there was one trip that met your requirements. Assignable: Tells you how many of the available pairings – after considering pre-assignments and legalities – were actually added to your Bid Group Trip Pool. In this example, the one available trip did not conflict with your pre-assignments or cause any FAR issues. So, the trip has been added to your Bid Group Trip Pool for consideration during the line construction process. In all three cases you will be able to select the term and view the actual pairings and date of operation. This drop down view will also indicate the status of pairings (this is discussed in more detail in the next section).

Reasons at the Bid Group Level PBS looks at each of your Bid Groups in order. When it is unable to build a line from Bid Group #1, it starts over with Bid Group #2. This process continues until it is finally able to award you a line from a bid group, or ultimately through Denial Mode. For each Bid Group, the Reasons Report will show one of three results.

1. Line Cannot be Built With Trips Remaining In Bid Group Trip Pool. This means that PBS could not build you a line with the pairings that were left in your Bid Group Trip Pool; either there were not enough pairings available, available pairings were limited (by the bidder), or an FAR or contractual issue prevented a line from being awarded. 2. Line Cannot Be Awarded Due To Overall Solution Constraints. This means that your Bid Group Trip Pool did contain enough pairings to build you a line, but doing so would cause PBS to violate the various overall monthly schedule constraints. Typically this means one of two things: either PBS could not award the bidder any combination of trips in his Bid Group Trip Pool and still complete the solution (using Award Work for all junior bidders), or PBS was required to give your more (or less) time than the bidder selected (i.e. SET Line Credit Range LOW and it needed to award a HIGH line credit range.) 3. Bid Group Was Awarded. Success! The Bid Group Trip Pool had enough pairings in it for PBS to build you a line.

Reasons at the Trip Level The Reasons Report gives you detailed information about why (or why not) individual pairings were added to your Bid Group Trip Pool. There are six possible Trip Level reasons. Note the category (Unavailable, Not Assignable,


etc.) before each reason. These are meant to make reading the report easier. 1. Unavailable (Awarded to Senior Bidder). The trip matches your bid but it has already been assigned to a senior pilot. 2. Unavailable (Frozen for IOE). This pairing matches your bid but because it is designated for IOE it could not be assigned. This will only apply to First Officers. 3. Not Assignable (Legality Conflict With Pre-assignment). This pairing is Available but cannot be assigned because of a legality conflict with one of your pre-assignments. (Not enough rest between the trip and Training, etc.) 4. Bid Group is Infeasible. This message indicates that the bid group entered has no solution regardless of the bidder’s seniority. 5. Added to Bid Group Trip Pool. This pairing is Available and Assignable. PBS has added it to your Bid Group Trip Pool. 6. Already In Bid Group Trip Pool. This pairing is Available and Assignable; however, it is already in the Trip Pool from a different award statement. An assigned trip shows up in green text; trips not assigned are blue.

At the end of the awarded Bid Group, the report will show you the entire list of every pairing in your Bid Group Trip Pool. Example: AWARD AIRCRAFT TYPE 757 LOW Limit=1 (04Mar2007 00:00 - 02Apr2007 23:59) 27 trips added to the bid group trip pool (480 matching, 192 available, 27 assignable, 1 match award)

+ H3153 05Mar 08:00 - 07Mar 18:24 - PHX - PHX EWR TPA 18:16 + H3641 31Mar 18:05 - 03Apr 10:58 - LAX - LAX LAX EWR 16:15 Pairing H3153 was available but not assigned, thus its blue text. Pairing H3641 was available and assigned, and is presented in green.


Bidding - A Practical Example In the past, pilot line constructors built our lines. This team of dedicated pilots was extremely familiar with the appropriate FARs and contract language. Their years of experience assisted them in knowing which pairings “fit” together to construct the ideal line within the constraints they were given each month. With PBS, you are the line constructor. This not only brings more flexibility to the construction process, but also requires more responsibility on your part. Are the pairings you are asking for legal when placed back to back? What is the minimum number of days off between certain international pairings? What are the weekly, monthly and quarterly FAR limitations for pairings requiring three flight crewmembers? These are just a few of the questions that must be considered when preparing your bid. The PBS program is coded with all of the appropriate FAR and contractual rules and will never build an illegal line; however, without an increased knowledge of these parameters a pilot could easily construct Bid Groups that may sound desirable but result in illegal lines and failed Bid Groups.

Shaping Your Bid When starting the PBS bidding process it is best to outline your desired parameters before making any Bid Group entries. Let’s consider John, a EWR based B-756 Captain. John would prefer to fly the B-767 whenever possible, CDG pairings and is willing to fly some SNN pairings, but not more than one or two. He is looking to achieve a Medium Line Credit Range (LCR). The “Prudent Bidder” would first check the monthly pairing bid package to make sure that such pairings (CDG, SNN and B-767) exist and are flown by his BES. John is in the top third of his BES seniority. As a commuter, he likes to condense his work as much as possible. John has also decided that he does not like to work on Sundays, want to layover in DUB or fly turns. Another consideration John must evaluate is whether the block time from the CDG pairing will allow the monthly schedule to be built with his preference of four pairings or will some type of “filler” pairing be required to bring the LCR up to the “Medium” range he requested. The CDG pairings are worth about 16:00 hours, which leaves John about 14 to 18 hours short of his goal (16 x 4 = 64, desired range 78-82 hours). To make up this shortfall, John will need to decide how to accomplish his


goals. Does he want to add two additional 10-hour pairings or one 3-day trip? Or are there some turns available in his base? Let’s see how we could use this information to shape a few sample scenarios. Keep in mind that there are many different ways to accomplish the same result in PBS. These are just a few of the suggested methods.

John’s 1st Bid Group 1. Set Line = Medium 2. Set Max Number of Work Blocks = 4 3. Set Work Block Report After 1300 4. Set Work Block Release Before 1900 Let’s evaluate what we have accomplished. With just four preferences, we have set a line credit range, the number of times we want to go to work in a bid period, and the report and release times we want. We have now set the tone for our line. Here is a screen shot showing how this bid will look in the Bidding Window. Keep in mind that the order in which Sets appear does not indicate their relative importance. Sets and waives are global statements that must be applied to the entire Bid Group for a successful line award.

However, this Bid Group is not complete yet, because we have not added an Award statement. All Bid Groups must have, and end with, an Award statement of some type. Award and Avoid John can further shape his preferences using both AWARD and AVOID statements with the preferences available. The AWARD statements will allow him to indicate the characteristics of pairings that he would prefer to have available when creating his line. The AVOIDS will remove pairings from consideration that he definitely does not want. Avoids must be 100 percent honored by the PBS program for any Bid Group to be successful. Because of the importance of AVOID statements, we will discuss them first.


AVOID This is the more powerful of the two commands. It is always respected in the bid groups. Being the most powerful, it also has the ability to cause your Bid Groups to fail more than any other command. AVOID statements remove any pairings that meet the stated criteria from consideration in the Bid Group Trip Pool. AVOID commands are CUMULATIVE! This means that each AVOID command is counted along with every other AVOID command above and below it in the Bid Group to eliminate pairings from subsequent Award statements. John must pay particular attention to the order in which he enters AVOID statements to achieve what he intends in a particular AWARD “Trip Pool.” He has decided that AVOID is the command to express what he does not want to fly: • AVOID Work Weekly Sunday • AVOID Layover Station DUB • AVOID Pairing Length = 1 The system now knows what John DOES NOT want. AWARD AWARD statements are your way of telling the system what you DO want. An award statement will generate a Bid Line Trip Pool of the desired pairings while respecting all avoid statements that preceded the award statement. Every Bid Group MUST contain at least one AWARD statement and every Bid Group must end with an Award Statement. AWARD statements are further refined by weighting: HIGH, NEUTRAL or LOW. Think of HIGH as +10, Neutral as zero (0) and LOW as -1. PBS adds up the pairings on your line based on these values and tries to get you a line with as high a value as possible. • AWARD Layover Station CDG - HIGH • AWARD Layover Station SNN - NEUTRAL • AWARD Aircraft Type B-767 - HIGH • AWARD Aircraft Type B-757 - NEUTRAL These bids tell PBS that both CDG and SNN are perfectly acceptable layover stations. However, because we have weighted CDG HIGH, PBS knows that John prefers CDG over SNN. Likewise, PBS knows it can award him B-757 or B-767 flying. Because he weighted B-767 High, however, the system knows that John prefers B-767s to B-757s. Remember, PBS weights are not cumulative. In the above example, if a pairing is both a CDG pairing and a B-767 pairing, the total weight applied to this pairing is only +10.


Here’s where John’s bid stands now: 1. Set Line Credit Range MEDIUM 2. Set Max Number of Work Blocks = 4 3. Set Work Block Report After 1300 4. Set Work Block Release Before 1900 5. AVOID Work Weekly Sunday 6. AVOID Layover Station and Length Any DUB 7. AVOID Pairing Length = 1 8. AWARD Layover Station and Length Any CDG - HIGH 9. AWARD Layover Station and Length Any SNN - NEUTRAL 10. AWARD Aircraft Type B-767 – HIGH 11. AWARD Aircraft Type B-757 - NEUTRAL Note: Line 10, AWARD Aircraft Type B-767, will bring in all trips with at least one leg of B-767 time. The Limit Parameter A parameter that we can use to control the number of pairings awarded is the LIMIT command. In our example, we can use limits to restrict the number of SNN pairings awarded. The AWARD statement would look like this: “AWARD: Layover Station: SNN: NEUTRAL: Limit 2” This tells PBS to award a maximum of two SNN pairings. Bid Groups John’s 1st Bid Group 1. Set Line Credit Range Medium 2. Set Max Number of Work Blocks = 4 3. Set Work Block Report After 1300 4. Set Work Block Release Before 1900 5. AVOID Work Weekly Sunday 6. AVOID Layover Station and Length Any DUB 7. AVOID Pairing Length = 1 8. AWARD Layover Station and Length Any CDG - HIGH 9. AWARD Layover Station and Length Any SNN – NEUTRAL Limit 2 10. AWARD Aircraft Type B-767 - HIGH 11. AWARD Aircraft Type B-757 - NEUTRAL


This collection of bid statements is called a Bid Group. Your bid can be made up of a collection of up to 20 Bid Groups each containing 50 total Bid Lines of which 25 can be Award statements. Having multiple Bid Groups gives you a lot of flexibility and control over what your awarded line will look like. If your first Bid Group fails, having a second less restrictive (or completely different) Bid Group will give PBS more options as it tries to build the line you want to fly. Remember that the PBS program can only construct a line based on the award statements entered within the Bid Group. For example, if John had not entered the last Award statement “Award Aircraft Type B-757 - Neutral,” then, if successful, John’s line would have NO B-757 flying except for those CDG and SNN pairings that might be flown by the B-757. While this may be desirable from a pay perspective, remember that if PBS could not achieve the desired Line Construction Range indicated in the “Set Line Credit Range” command (Medium) with only B-767, CDG and SNN pairings, then the Bid Group would have failed. Thus, adding an award statement such as “Award Aircraft Type B-757 - Neutral” allows use of a broad range of pairings, providing the PBS program with additional opportunities to complete the line construction process while honoring all of your SET, WAIVE and AVOID preferences. Use of weights and limits with these broad award statements ensures that the minimum required number of these types of pairings is utilized. The program will allow you to copy a Bid Group to use as a starting point for the next Bid Group. In the above Bid Group for example, you could copy it to the next Bid Group then make a series of changes as follows:

John’s 2nd Bid Group 1. Set Line Credit Range = Wide (changed from Medium) 2. Set Max Number of Work Blocks = 5 (changed from 4) 3. Set Work Block Report After 1300 4. Set Work Block Release Before 1900 5. AVOID Work Weekly Sunday 6. AVOID Layover Station and Length Any DUB 7. AVOID Pairing Length = 1 8. AWARD Layover Station and Length Any CDG - HIGH 9. AWARD Layover Station and Length Any SNN-NEUTRAL (limit removed)

10. AWARD Aircraft Type B-767 - HIGH 11. AWARD Aircraft Type B-757 - NEUTRAL If the first Bid Group fails, the second, while similar, is less restrictive and may have a better chance of success. And you didn’t have to type the whole Bid Group all over again. Each Bid Group is evaluated as a separate process; no higher- or lower-ranked Bid Group affects the Bid Group being processed.


Conclusion

This completes your basic PBS training program. Please take advantage of the multiple resources available to you every month – from the PBS Helpdesk to the monthly “Taking care of Bid-ness” newsletters, as well as the online resources available on the CAL ALPA website, Flight Operations, and on PrefBid.com. Just as there is a learning curve when you transition from one aircraft to another and learn new navigation systems, there is a PBS learning curve. Our best advice is to begin with simple basic bids covering those preferences of greatest importance. As you become more comfortable with your relative seniority in the BES and the various tools available within PBS, your Bid Groups will become more refined and complex.


Glossary AWARD -An AWARD statement adds pairings to the Bid Group Trip Pool of a Bid Group.

The order of AWARD statements has NO effect in the construction of your bid. REPEAT- The physical order of AWARD statements has NO bearing on their importance!

AVOID - An AVOID statement removes pairings from consideration in a Bid Group. AVOID statements are cumulative. Example: AVOID Average Pairing Credit per Day <= 5:00 AVOID Deadhead Anywhere in Pairing would cause future AWARD statements to only display pairings that have 5:00 a day minimum productive and no deadhead.

AVOID statements "block" pairings from consideration by AWARD statements that come after (below) the AVOID statement(s) in a bid group.

Carry-in - Pairings at the end of the previous month that fly into the new Bid Period. A flight line bid group may award flying up to seven (7) days into the next bid period. A reserve bid group may build a schedule that allows a block of Reserve days in one month to carry-in up to two days into the new Bid Period. Carry-in days and their line construction credit value will be shown on the pilot’s personal PBS calendar prior to entering his bid. Pairings or reserve days (if bidding reserve) will be assigned that do not conflict with carry-in assignments.

Carry-in pairings DO NOT count as a work block unless another pairing or duty event is placed immediately adjacent to the carry-in pairing (back-to-back).

Bid Group - Basic part of a monthly bid. The monthly bid may consist of up to twenty (20) bid groups. Each bid group is completely separate from the others. Bid groups are considered in rank order. To be used to award a monthly schedule the system must be able to build at least one legal and feasible line using the pairings awarded in that Bid Group. IF a Bid Group fails, the next bid group is considered.

For a bid group to be awarded, it must be fulfilled in its entirety. Bid groups that fail just ONE parameter will fail the entire bid group.


Bid Row - Bid rows are the statements that make up a bid group. There may be up to 50 bid rows in a bid group. Of the 50, 25 bid rows may be AWARD statements. Denial Mode – Denial mode is the process by which PBS systematically relaxes the last Bid Group until a line or reserve award can be made. Filler Trip - A filler trip is any trip that a pilot will accept in limited quantity for the purpose of "filling" their line. LCC (Line Construction Cap) – The maximum amount of block that can be assigned to an individual bidder. Line Credit Range – A selectable value (Low, Medium, High, Wide) that sets how much credit (as defined in Contract ’02) a pilot wishes. Line Credit Range is affected by certain WAIVES (see appropriate section.) LPA (Line Production Average) - Defined by the PBS Implementation LOA and is a value set by the System Staffing Committee for each BES (i.e. IAH B737 FO.) It is the target line value average for the BES. Pre-assignments or Absences - Training (Qualification Training, Annual Recurrent (CQP) and IOE), Vacation, Jury Duty, Drill Weekend (ML), Union Business, Company Business (CB), Leaves (Sick, Personal, etc.) Pre-assignments and absences are valued at 2:45 per day (exception: recurrent training, which is valued at zero) and cause day-off proration. (Reference Contract ’02, Section 25.PBS for specifics) Relaxing Bid Groups - The process of changing parameters within the bid rows to allow more pairings to be brought into a bid group. Example: Bid Group One avoids 3 and 4 day pairings; Bid Group Two avoids only 3-day pairings. Work- is defined as any and all pairings that are available to the bid group for use in constructing solutions (lines).

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