PBS at CAL

[canyonblue]

I came into this PBS as a true believer. We had it at TWA and it worked very good.

I have flown with a few ex-TWA'ers at SWA and they would support PBS here. The overwhelming majority at SWA are against PBS due to the problems that pilots at other carriers are experiencing. Too bad, since I have never heard a bad word about the product TWA had. First word of PBS, Preferential. Whose preferences? :smash:

 

[AA717driver]

canyon--A large part of the positive experience with PBS at TWA was the fact that the union ran the whole show. They guaranteed the company that it would be done as effeciently and above board as possible and the company kept its hands off.

The company worked with the union to create effecient pairings (after the days of 5-day, 22 hour trips... ) and we had demand staffing which sucked all the excess open time out of the system.

It was good for the company and good for the pilot group. I had issues with it because it wouldn't let me make extra time via flythrough. There was no open time to pick up and the system eliminated picking up time by flying a trip that didn't conflict with the first trip of the next month.

I think PBS is problematic for pilot groups that don't have the complete cooperation of management. TWA was just in the right place at the right time for PBS to work well for most people. TC

 

[nimtz]

Here is a response I got from a PBS trainer after I complained about my March results. There were over 200 assignable trips that I bid for and I didn't get one. They went to people junior to me. It's total B.S.

And the good news is that the splat line will only move up in seniority when the schedule heats up this summer.

 

[pkober]

The funny thing is that PBS at TWA started in 1997. You would think that in 10 years there would have been a quantum leap in PBS. Instead it seems worse. PBS is the future, but it needs to be a system that works. Being told I can't get what I want because it might hurt some one junior to me is unacceptable.

True statement about what us TWA'ers think about ALPA. It make me wonder if APA would let this sh&t happen at AA. They seem to have much biggers ba77s than ALPA ever had.

 

[deceptibum]

Thanks everyone for the responses. I guess I'll have to check out a book on computer programming for this to work

 

[densoo]

More.

Saturday March 17, 2007

The March 15th deadline for delivery of the PBS Dynamic Bid Model, as set forth in the Implementation LOA, has now come and gone. Despite our best efforts to move the project forward, the deadline has been missed by the Company and Jeppesen. Discussions with Jeppesen on a further revised product delivery schedule are ongoing and we will update you as more concrete information becomes available.

Furthermore, it’s important that the pilot group realize that Continental recently made a unilateral decision to staff the PBS help line with crew schedulers as a cost saving measure. In the past, line pilots have served in this capacity. Your Union believes that these schedulers are insufficiently trained and will not be able to answer all pilot questions. They will likely read to you from vendor provided documents concerning some functions, and they can not bring the in-depth experience to the discussion in a way that a line pilot could. Additionally, they are not authorized to inform you what affect certain actions will have on your bid. We have asked that these phone lines be taped in order to properly document the discussion should errors occur with your bid.

Despite our protests, management has also elected to reduce the staffing of pilot trainers available on Prefbids.com. Beginning in April, there will be two shifts per day staffed with a single pilot trainer. Please be patient as they are working to meet your needs under a higher load of work. Management is more than willing to have Prefbids.com staffed by additional trainers if the expense is born by the Union. It is the MEC’s position that PBS training, like all other forms of training at Continental, is an expense that should be covered by the company. Your MEC officers believe that the sacrifice made by this pilot group to accept a PBS system as part of the current concessionary contract is payment enough. This pilot group will not sacrifice one more dollar for a bid system that has not met pilot expectations while the Company and Jeppesen continue to miss agreed upon system implementation deadlines.

The ALPA CAL MEC will continue to comply with its part of the contractual agreement in regards to moving PBS forward. Enabling the continuance of a problematic bid system and subsidizing it with ALPA dues money --- your dues money--- is entirely unacceptable and will not receive our support. We will inform you when and if any additional information concerning this issue becomes available. Please remember to continue flying safely and professionally.

CAL MEC

 

[Phrogs4ever]

Even better, how about the message we got after that one? It said something to the effect that "as a cost saving measure, crew shedulers will be used to man the PBS hotline!" That's exactly what I need to get out of DeniM-4, bidding tips from crew scheds. I think my three year old would be more helpful.

 

[densoo]

Even better, how about the message we got after that one? It said something to the effect that "as a cost saving measure, crew shedulers will be used to man the PBS hotline!" That's exactly what I need to get out of DeniM-4, bidding tips from crew scheds. I think my three year old would be more helpful.

The schedulers are understaffed now. I would have to think that management is going to give them this (significant) additional duty with no additional staffing.

[A lot like the way congress and president treated Walter Reed--lots more wounded, no more money. Please make do. Walter Reed was selected for base closure for crying out loud and as such, by law, was prohibited from major outlays of funds there. And the congressmen at that hearing had the nerve to blame the guys in uniform. I guess all large organizations do it this way, but the line workers, be it pilots, schedulers, soldiers, always suck it up.]

But I digress.

I can only imagine what's going to happen the first time there is a weather meltdown at the same time the PBS bid window is open; the scheduling line will be so busy they'll probably just turn off incoming calls entirely. The union will quickly send out a blastmail to all pilots stating "we oppose the current situation and we are in discussions with the company to remedy." Tic toc.

 

[whymeworry?]

PBS is one of the worst things to hit our career since deregulation or 9/11.

What's worse though? Flying with the kool-aid drinkers who, on the one hand whine about PBS, then arrive every leg 15-20 early.

I'm tired of listening to pilots bitch about PBS and do nothing about it. I am now to the point when I cut them off within 2 minutes and ask them what they've done to get involved, i.e., call the union, write letters to flight ops, fly to rule, etc. Most do nothing at all so I tell them to shut it when their whining starts. I will only discuss the subject with pilots who are legitimately trying to effecutate change.

One thing's for sure... we are severely understaffed due to PBS and all this system is ultimately going to do is get the pilots to battle hard during C'08 negotiations... well, I'm referring of course to those who don't drink the koolaid.

 

[JohnQ]

At DAL we are very happy with our PBS. We have had it for a year and a half and I can't think of five pilots I have talked to who would rather go back to the old Line of Time system (and it was a pretty good system, too).

So why the big discrepancy compared to others?

1. We went with NavTech's CLASS system, which we determined (correctly evidently) was vastly superior to any other vendor's.

2. CLASS absolutely honors seniority. It will put an extra junior guy on reserve rather than pull a senior guy's trip off his line so as to "make one more regular line."

3. CLASS has a Reasons Report, which tells you (in mostly plain English) just why you did or did not get what you hoped for. It saves 98% of all calls.

4. We have VERY STRONG union oversight, and this is agreed to by mgmt. We (the union) review every category's results and have to OK them before mgmt releases the results to the pilot group. We have frequently had to send the results back with our objections.

Add all the above together and you have a pretty happy pilot group at DAL. Is PBS perfect? No. In fact some months we have significant processing headaches. But it is still a pretty good system, and as we all get more comfortable with it, it should get even better.

Remember...strong union oversight is a must. Otherwise ANY PBS system can create chaos and headaches.