cactusmike

That is a function of what the company and the union (yeah, I know) have negotiated. Just about any type of PBS will have a system where there comes a time where the system cannot create a full line of flying. The trips that cannot fit into a line will either fall into open time or will be built into a hybrid line of reserve days and trips. At AA those hybrid lines could not be bid for but if you were on the bubble of holding reserve or lines you could score some days off. Again, it’s how the workrules are implemented. ( hybrid reserve days are paid at the average daily credit for the base and fleet. In LAX on the 777 we had an average daily credit of over 7 hours. Given the fact that hybrid reserve assignments came after long and short call reserves you were pretty much guaranteed not to be used during your hybrid days).

Some carriers have a set minimum of a percentage of trips that are held out for open time. At America West our PBS was set to having 5% held out. That alllowed for schedule adjustments as there were trips that you could trade with the company to adjust your schedule. I’m not sure what the percentage was at American, I’m pretty sure it was lower, but more pilots at AA would drop their trips into the pilot trade pool.

The lack of open time after a PBS run is a function of management afraid of not having trips covered and a perceived loss of control. Having open time freaks out a scheduling manager, especially if they are short reserves. I don’t know if your pilot group has people wanting trips to pick up, that certainly was the case at AWA and AA, the two PBS systems I bid under.

What the poster above said about knowing the logic of how the system works is critical in getting a satisfied user. Knowledge is definitely power, we had clueless senior guys *****ing about their schedules because they never took the time to learn the system. A good union (that word again) or even the company, should have a PBS help desk that can talk people down off the bidding ledge.