1.07.16 – (LUS) – JIRC Update – Cumulative Waivers, PBS Bidding Checklist, Blank Layers, ISAP Reason Explanation

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Thursday, January 7, 2016

Joint Implementation Resolution Committee Update – LUS

New Year, New Look
Cumulative Waivers/Properties
PBS Bidding Checklist
Blank Layers
ISAP Reason Explanation

As we enter a new year, we thought a fresh start to the JIRC Update was appropriate and might help reinvigorate the learning.

The Purpose:

The JIRC Update was created to share helpful bidding tips, provide answers to the weeks most commonly asked questions, and to provide alerts for any changes, all in relation to PBS.

The Goal:

Our goal in creating this resource is to help everyone create better bids, to understand why there were awarded particular pairings and to expand on the PBS Handbook in an easy to understand way full of examples.

The Recommendation:

We highly recommend printing out the JIRC Updates each week and adding them to the back of the newly published PBS Handbook, as they are an add-on resource to the information in the manual.

Cumulative Waivers/Properties

The properties below are cumulative properties. This means that once you include them in a layer, PBS will continue awarding through all the rest of your layers with these properties included. Properties in red cannot be made more restrictive than what was used in a previous layer, unless you clear bid. An example of trying to be more restrictive in a subsequent layer is bidding Minimum Days Off Between Work Block-2 in layer 1 then in layer 2 bidding Minimum Days Off Between Work Block-3. Two days off between work blocks is the least restrictive of the two bids so you should not bid the same property in a more restrictive manner in a subsequent layer.

For an example of cumulative properties, if you include the waivers Waive 24hrs Rest in Domicile, Waive 35 hrs in 7 Days and Waive Minimum Domicile Rest in layer 1, they will continue to be used in all of your remaining layers:

Waive 24 hrs rest in Domicile
Waive 35 hrs in 7 Days
Waive Minimum Domicile Rest
Target Credit Range
Allow Multiple Pairings
Avoid Reserve
Avoid Person
Buddy with
Waive Minimum Days Off

The only way to remove a cumulative property once bid in an earlier layer is to use Clear Bid and restart your award process from that layer.

The following properties cannot be made more restrictive than what was used in a previous layer, unless you Clear Bid:

Minimum Days Off Between Work Blocks (Default is 1)
Work Block Size (Default is 1 to 6)
Commutable Work Block

PBS Bidding Checklist

None of your Layers are resulting in zero (0) “PAIRINGS BY LAYER”.
None of your Properties conflict with each other.
If you bid specific pairings, only the total number of specific pairings you bid show up in that Layer.
You did not bid generic properties in the same layer as specific pairings.
You correctly bid your “PREFERRED POSITION PREFERENCE” in every layer that is important.•
Click on “VIEW PAIRING SET” to see all the pairings you are bidding for in each layer. Make sure the pairings are acceptable.
Make sure the “TARGET CREDIT RANGE” you are bidding is:
- Realistic for your seniority
- High enough to cover the pairings you are bidding for
- Can be accomplished with the days off you bid
- Covers the minimum required line credit value for your base, depending on your seniority.

All of the days off you bid show up in each Layer you bid them.
All of your TRN, COM, VAC, or carry-in pairings show up on the appropriate dates, if applicable.

Blank Layers

A layer in PBS that contains no bids is considered a blank layer. In the example below, Layer 2 contains no bids and is a blank layer.

The reason this is important to note is that Layer 2 displays a pairing pool of 8,614 available positions. Based on the default, this displayed pairing pool does not contain redeyes or ODANs.

When PBS processes the award, it does not look at this pairing pool of 8,614 positions. It considers this a blank layer with zero bids and therefore, will award any additional pairings as though they are from no layer, meaning that red eyes and ODANs will be considered.

The JIRC has requested to change this logic. Until that happens, if you want to open yourself up to any pairings except red eyes and ODANs, simply add the Target Credit Range or Prefer Position Order to the blank layer. There is now a bid in that layer so PBS will consider all available positions.

Based on the example below, if this bidder added the Target Credit Range to Layer 2, all 8,614 available positions displayed in the pairing pool will be considered as a bid.

ISAP Reason Explanation

An unsuccessful unit in an ISAP or ISAP/AIL run will be accompanied with a reason why the unit could not be awarded. There are a multitude of reasons and some of them are not easy to understand.

For the complete list of ISAP reasons plus what they mean, click the link below:

ISAP REASON REPORT

For the ISAP “How-to” Cheat Sheet, click the link below:

ISAP/AIL QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

In Solidarity,

Laura Albert – PHL and DCA
Scott Barnes – PHX and the FABRC (Flight Attendant Bidding 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 Red Book) to oversee the implementation of PBS.