Hello PBS; Goodbye QOL
11-03-2017, 11:22 PM
#121
Banned
Joined APC: Jul 2015
Posts: 775
Take a look around you, don't listen to what you're being told. Look at what's going on. Think for yourself ask what is the current process and ask why? Someone just might try to jam a PBS sandwich down your throat and tell you it's good for you. If Spirit makes the sandwich you know it's bad! It's going to get a lot worse before it gets better. Hang on!
11-05-2017, 05:32 AM
#124
Banned
Joined APC: Apr 2017
Posts: 409
11-06-2017, 12:14 PM
#127
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Dec 2005
Posts: 8,932
11-06-2017, 03:28 PM
#128
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Oct 2013
Posts: 456
Don’t forget SWA was hiring as well back then. Not a lot but about 200 a year.
11-06-2017, 06:01 PM
#129
Banned
Joined APC: Apr 2017
Posts: 409
11-06-2017, 07:18 PM
#130
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jun 2015
Position: WB/A
Posts: 900
I have QOL. With several hundred or thousand trips to distribute, who does a better job at building a line to suit you; the company or you?
The real bummer about PBS is the impact on staffing and hence things like advancement. But negative QOL doesn't even come on my radar.
I was at a carrier with antiquated line bidding that subsequently transitioned to PBS. The QOL improvement was vast and undeniable. I was bidding #8 of maybe 200 in a widebody international category, and my worst month to date was a 11 day Asian odyssey in 4 star+ hotels that filled the whole month. With a bit of luck I could work 11 or 12, pack 15+ behind it, and do the inverse the following month, creating a full month off in between. Sometimes, but not consistently, because my employer failed to create the ideal line for me each month, if you can imagine that! After PBS, I could structure similar but even better trips at intervals than made my neighbors think I never worked, assuming they overlooked the occasional 11 day absence. It was great. Then I was displaced to a category where I bid near the bottom. With the proper preferences, I secured commutable schedules right away and attained good QOL.
The guys senior to me had the advantage of more credit hours and their most desired days off, but I was happy with the fact that a bottom dweller could have some wishes filter down to him.
When PBS came along, we had already lost vacation conflict drops and some of the other bennies that are often-cited as the downfall of PBS. The efficiency gains for the company are certain, and particular monetary-enhancing techniques employed by pilots will disappear, but usually in trade from some other benefits that come along. Most months of the year, I do not have vacation. So line bidding benefits in a vacation month are rarely missed, and I'm unwilling to have every non-vacation month suck, just to look forward to an occasional vacation windfall. If you aren't senior, you're probably not getting the vacation you want anyhow. But your monthly schedule can potentially get much better down the seniority list with PBS. Combined with a reasonable schedule change system, enhancements made after schedules are published can greatly elevate your lifestyle or money. Savy pilots who learn all the rules, techniques and tricks and are willing to put in the work can live beyond their seniority level, both in the main bid and during later trades, drops and swaps.
Ever hear anybody say "if it ain't Boeing, I ain't going?" Or
"that crazy Fifi jet is scary." Most pilots emitting such comments have never flown an Airbus (and don't care about having a place to eat or their hearing!!!) I'd say the same principal applies to those who malign the notion of PBS. I've never heard of an on-property movement to revert back to line bidding at any carrier after PBS conversion!!! Just my two cents; PBS is not all bad. Certainly not worth wasting negotiating capital trying to avoid it.
The real bummer about PBS is the impact on staffing and hence things like advancement. But negative QOL doesn't even come on my radar.
I was at a carrier with antiquated line bidding that subsequently transitioned to PBS. The QOL improvement was vast and undeniable. I was bidding #8 of maybe 200 in a widebody international category, and my worst month to date was a 11 day Asian odyssey in 4 star+ hotels that filled the whole month. With a bit of luck I could work 11 or 12, pack 15+ behind it, and do the inverse the following month, creating a full month off in between. Sometimes, but not consistently, because my employer failed to create the ideal line for me each month, if you can imagine that! After PBS, I could structure similar but even better trips at intervals than made my neighbors think I never worked, assuming they overlooked the occasional 11 day absence. It was great. Then I was displaced to a category where I bid near the bottom. With the proper preferences, I secured commutable schedules right away and attained good QOL.
The guys senior to me had the advantage of more credit hours and their most desired days off, but I was happy with the fact that a bottom dweller could have some wishes filter down to him.
When PBS came along, we had already lost vacation conflict drops and some of the other bennies that are often-cited as the downfall of PBS. The efficiency gains for the company are certain, and particular monetary-enhancing techniques employed by pilots will disappear, but usually in trade from some other benefits that come along. Most months of the year, I do not have vacation. So line bidding benefits in a vacation month are rarely missed, and I'm unwilling to have every non-vacation month suck, just to look forward to an occasional vacation windfall. If you aren't senior, you're probably not getting the vacation you want anyhow. But your monthly schedule can potentially get much better down the seniority list with PBS. Combined with a reasonable schedule change system, enhancements made after schedules are published can greatly elevate your lifestyle or money. Savy pilots who learn all the rules, techniques and tricks and are willing to put in the work can live beyond their seniority level, both in the main bid and during later trades, drops and swaps.
Ever hear anybody say "if it ain't Boeing, I ain't going?" Or
"that crazy Fifi jet is scary." Most pilots emitting such comments have never flown an Airbus (and don't care about having a place to eat or their hearing!!!) I'd say the same principal applies to those who malign the notion of PBS. I've never heard of an on-property movement to revert back to line bidding at any carrier after PBS conversion!!! Just my two cents; PBS is not all bad. Certainly not worth wasting negotiating capital trying to avoid it.
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