TALPAtalker

I think that’s the bottom line when it comes to green slips. All of the GS calls I have received this week have been due to last minute IROP-related situations that could not have been resolved with a SS or 2-day-out coverage.

Crazyernie

Must short call preferences be adhered to in seniority order?

I may not be taking into account targeted days of availability or a junior pilot starting their first day of a reserve block, vs me already being on reserve, but I did everything to avoid a certain early short call only to see junior pilots assigned my preferences and I got the opposite of what I slipped for. Grrrr.

CBreezy

This is a very vague question. Did you YS a short call or did you set a "if needed" for SC? Were the other pilots coming off of days off and wouldn't be legal for the early SC? Were they in the same days of availability?

tennisguru

SC is by days of availability, then SC groupings (less than 2, 2-3, etc), then by seniority. What really catches people is PWA legalities leading up to the SC. Are they coming off training or vacation? Then no assignment before 1800. First day of LC, no assignment before 1000. And the big one is people finishing up assignments the day before needing 18 hours before their next assignment. So someone with 1200-2100 SC on day one cannot do a SC on day 2 until 1500. Same with anyone wrapping up a rotation, plus if there very well may be 30/168 rest issues. You’ve really got to be a reserve availability list ninja + schedule stalker to truly see what people ahead of you in the same days and SC grouping can actually be assigned.

Crazyernie

Ninja is right. I have to take a closer look, but I think it's either a 30/168 or rest between assignments. Apparently the fate of the Saturday morning push rests on me and every GS'er.

FangsF15

Just for the record, an "if needed" slip is NOT optional. IF you are needed, they must honor it just like if it were a Yellow Slip. Period. They are nortorious for forgetting to check "if needed" slips per the contract and then giving 'your' time (or rotation) to someone else. If you are unsure how it happened, call CS and ask if you were identified on the coverage report, or if all the times/trips were covered on the same report. If so, ask them to fix thier mistake. I have done this more than a few times, and have always won (even if it took a lot of effort on my part). Ask the question first, so they are 'trapped'.

However, there are times where you weren't needed when they ran the first coverage report, but then something changed shortly therafter (like someone accepting a GS and coming off thier SC), and you became needed later. In such a case, your "if needed" becomes moot. But this is also rare.

Gspeed

Are they still making up rules for the newly automated short call system?

FangsF15

So far, I haven't experienced it? I recently used an "if needed" for SC, and I got the time I preferenced. Whether that was because they checked my slip, or by sheer luck, I don't know

20Fathoms

These are excellent questions and I hope they make the rules more clear. I’ve been confused as well. As a data point this last week I started a 3 day block of LC. I looked at what SCs were on offer and it had 4 available, all with 4 day targets. Well there were no people in 4 day buckets and the only two in 3 day buckets were me and a senior guy.

The available SCs were: 0800, 0900, 1300, and 2359.

I put in preferences for “if needed” thinking as Fangs said that it becomes a yellow slip if you are needed. I was starting a block so 1000 was my earliest report time but I know that yellow slips trump that so I figured I could get the 0800 or 0900. I preferenced 0900, 0800, 1300, 2359 in that order. Well lo and behold I got the scheduling special of last choice😕.

I can only think of 2 possible reasons: 1) Your SC preferences can’t really become a yellow slip and therefore can’t break the 10 hour protection coming off an off day and in addition the senior bubba preferenced the 1300 SC. Or 2) Scheduling doesn’t pay any attention to this at all and randomly doles these out before moving on to the next fire.

A few questions: Will a preference break the 10 hr protection coming off an off day? Will a straight yellow SC? Also if you submit a straight yellow for a SC for a specific time, will they either award that or leave you alone, or once you raise your hand for SC can they assign you any SC they want?

CBreezy

An IF NEEDED slip cannot violate any of the PWA rules. Only a YS can waive contractual time limits.

If you YS SC, they can only assign you that time as a YS. You'll YS SC start times between x and y hours. No. They can't give you whatever you want if you YS and they can't give you anything.