8.05.15 – (LUS) – JIRC Weekly Update – Network Issues, Training Bidding System, Upcoming PBS Bidding, JIRC Facebook Page, LODO

JIRC Weekly Update

• Network Issues
• Training Bidding System
• Upcoming PBS Bidding
• New Tips from the JIRC Facebook Page

Training Bidding System (TBS)

To find TBS, log into the Crewportal, select the “Bids/trades/claims” tab then find the link that says “Training Bidding”. Once TBS has opened, select the “Classes” tab to find the available class times and dates. Below is an example of the available classes for CLT in September.

PBS Bidding

Facebook Page: Tips from the JIRC

Tip of the Week: Final Step of Entering PBS Bids

Almost 7 months into “live” bidding, the amount of requested help in the Crewrooms and the number of calls to the FARC seem to suggest that Flight Attendants are getting more comfortable with bidding and are not requiring as much help as was needed in the first few months. There are still plenty of questions, though, and the Trainers will continue to be available until the end of the bidding/award cycle in November.

Before entering your bids, it is a good idea to have a bidding strategy in mind. A bidding strategy can help create a “roadmap” for entering your bids and help you narrow down the properties that can be used to communicate your strategy to PBS.

Once you have finished entering your bids, the last thing we recommend before logging out of PBS is to look over the Layer tab and print out a copy of your bids.

Below, you will see this bidder is looking at their Layer tab after finishing entering their bids. The arrow on the left is pointing towards the “View Pairing Set” button. This bidder has a total of 9336 positions that are included in their bid using generic properties. “View Pairing Set” gives bidders the ability to look through their layers to verify that the pairing pools contain the intended pairings. It is always recommended that you look over the Layer overview and scan through the “View Pairing Set” to ensure that your bid is accurate.

Once you have looked at the Layer overview, scanned through the “View Pairing Set” and printed a copy of your bids from the Layer tab, you are all set to Log out of PBS. When in the Crewroom, always make sure that you Log out of PBS, Crewportal and close all the open windows before walking away from the computer.

LODO Tip of the Week

Bidding within the LODO program can be a challenge because in most cases, it is a very small group of people so one bid can affect what everyone junior is awarded. Below are a few tips to keep in mind depending on if you are trying to bid a full line of LODO pairings or a mixed line of LODO and non-LODO pairings.

When bidding for LODO only Pairings, the L Position (entered as Prefer Position Order – FL) must be bid if there are any Generic Bids (including days off on the calendar). When bidding for specific LODO pairings the L position preference in not needed because a LODO pairing only contains that position. Any generic bids, ie days off on the calendar, Prefer Pairing Length-3, Layover at City-CDG, etc, will also include all the positions that are found on non-LODO pairings in the pairing pools.

If you only want to bid LODO pairings, include the Prefer Position Order-FL in all 7 layers to remove any non-LODO pairings from your pairing pool.

If you want to bid for non-LODO pairings, you can use Prefer Position Order to include all positions you prefer. If no Prefer Position Order is used with a bid that includes non-LODO pairings, PBS will assign the positions in alphabetical order based on availability.

*NOTE – LODO pairings are subject to their own staffing tables separate from non-LODO pairings. When a LODO is attempting to swap a LODO pairing for a non-LODO pairing or vice versa in ISAP, the pairings are looked at as “Drop ONLY” and “Add ONLY” in their respective staffing tables.

For example:
A Spanish LODO has the non-LODO pairing 12345/15Aug and would like to use ISAP to pick the LODO pairing 98765/15Aug that is currently in Open Time. The non-LODO pairing 12345/15Aug would be considered a “Drop ONLY” and is subject to the non-LODO daily/monthly Open Time limitations. Because the LODO pairing is an “Add ONLY” from the LODO side of ISAP, it would not be restricted.

When attempting to ISAP from non-LODO to LODO pairings or vice versa, you must remember that two separate staffing tables are being considered and the swap can only happen if the staffing tables on both sides allow it.

An example of a rejection Reason Report for this type of swap would say:
Daily O/T Exceeded-Mixed Languages
 
Important September Information

Labor Day is September 7th and is a recognized Company Holiday.

For Reserves, September 1st is a Saturday so keep in mind that there may be legality reasons for Reserves who are on call the last days of August that force them to be Off the first weekend. Even Senior Reserves should be careful with requesting the first weekend as “Must Offs” in all layers because forced legalities may not allow that weekend to be awarded.

For Lineholders, requesting the weekend off in all layers is not recommended in case your seniority cannot hold it off. Bidding the holiday weekend off should be done in the first few layers and relaxed in lower layers. If your seniority is going to be forced coverage over the holiday, relaxing your lower layers can allow PBS to award a more desirable trip versus awarding a leftover trip that you do not want.

In Solidarity,

Laura Albert – PHL and DCA
Scott Barnes – PHX and the FARC (Flight Attendant Resource Center)
Emily Arner-Brown – CLT

About the JIRC:
The Joint Implementation Resolution Committee (JIRC) is a committee that was created by the current contract (the Redbook) to oversee the implementation of PBS.