Leaderboard

^^^^ This ^^^^ There are way too many variables to have a discussion across airline borders. I can tell you why I don't want it and why it would diminish QOL and QO-Schedules for the mid-level to junior pilots at FedEx if we accepted PBS. But that doesn't mean most pilots at Delta or AA aren't happy and getting schedules they like using it. Where it really matters is if you're working somewhere and the powers that be are considering going from line bidding to PBS (it never, ever will go the other way.... so that tells you a little something 😉). In that case and if you have a vote in the decision, it would be important for you to understand what the ramifications of that change would truly mean to your scheduling process, manning, etc. Lots of moving parts, different labor contracts, different PBS software, different programming and the end result may be very, very different at Airline X even though all the guys from Airline Y are here on baseops singing the praises of PBS. Most of the bigs have already made the move, so it's probably not a high threat scenario, generally speaking.

Those are methods for getting a monthly airline schedule. A "line" is a month's (typically) worth of trips. When someone talks about a "line" they are usually referring to actual trips all month. There are also "lines" of reserve "on call" days but those usually aren't referred to in the same context as "holding a line" - which means you can avoid reserve and actually go fly regularly for the month. So - line bidding means that someone (union pilots, company workers, a combination) builds schedules using a series of individual trips that have already been constructed before they get put into lines. They do the same thing with schedules of reserve days. This is done for every aircraft type and each seat in that aircraft. Enough schedules (of both flying and reserve) are built so that there are enough for almost every pilot in whatever aircraft and seat they fly. So, the 767 Captains in a particular base can look at their February bid pack and see each individual flying line and reserve line available to them. The #1 seniority pilot picks first and so on. Once the schedules are awarded in seniority order, everyone has their schedule except for maybe 5-20% of the pilots in each fleet/seat (depending on airline). Those who don't are the ones who couldn't hold one of the pre-set schedules or chose not to. Their schedules (typically called secondary lines) will be determined later once the line holders and reserve pilot's schedules have dealt with known conflicts between trips or reserve days and other events like mil leave, recurrent training, vacation and conflicts with trips from the current month carrying over into the new month for which they just bid. The unassigned trips and reserve days that results from those conflicts will be built into new schedules for those 5-20% of the pilots still waiting for their schedules using inputs for what they want (again in seniority order) that they give to the planners. PBS is essentially the secondary process I just described for the 5-20% applied to the entire pilot group. The flying and reserve days are not built into pre-determined lines (schedules). As a result, the schedules are built to avoid conflicts from the start and there is no need for the secondary process I described above. This is obviously more efficient and requires fewer pilots overall. Instead, everyone inputs their desires for types of trips, days on, days off, reserve if they want it, etc. The schedules are then built using a program that considers seniority, pilot's inputs, FAR legality, contractual rules such as minimum days off, etc. The key driver, as always, is seniority. The number one guy gets pretty much what he asks for as long as it's legal with the FARs and contract. The guys at the bottom get what's left. You've probably read the pros/cons of each system and the various opinions of each, so I won't go into that again.

Youre going to have to explain what you mean by “direct effects.” If I take an 29 ship of C-17s loaded with a brigade from the 82d, wrap them in a gorilla package of SEAD/Strike/CAS/ISR, and send them north of the DMZ to seize an airfield, that has “direct effects” on the enemy. They teach that at the WIC... Or do you mean “weapons effects” when you say “direct effects”? If so, I’d say that limiting the WIC education to the employment of guns/bombs/missiles/radars is a Blue-4 level of understanding of the employment of airpower. The WIC is not about that (beyond Core One/Two academics...) it’s way more. Your post is littered with double speak and lack of understanding of not only what the Weapons School teaches and produces but of the operational-level employment of American airpower. But it takes time and experience to comprehend how much one doesn’t know, especially about other MWS’s, employment, tactics, etc. and I’m far from an authority... Just trying to give you a view of what the WIC sees - take it or leave it. It’s already been said - the WIC isn’t all about weapons employment. If the name is all that matters to you, I don’t really know what to tell you and you certainly don’t want to hear it from me. Chuck

https://www.duffelblog.com/2019/01/isis-unfollows-stratcom-on-twitter-after-offensive-new-years-tweet/

You’re gonna have to explain what you mean by “political posturing” brother. Your post says having experts is good, having schools is good, but you’re hung up on the “Weapons” piece of it? Then you loop in the quip about ISR... and it tells me you don’t know what youre taking about. And there’s no argument. The really interesting one is cyber. Those guys can have devastating effects... does what they employ classify as a weapon? Should they have a Weapons School? You’ll be hard pressed to find a warfighting commander willing to go to war without them... As a commander I want to be able to have go to guys there when the shit hits the fan. I can look at the squadron/AOC/Staff, see the patches and universally across the USAF it’s understood what the patch means, what those guys do, what those guys know. From personal experience, when ops were being planned and despite the expertise in the squadron, I pulled in the patches first and everyone else second. Thats all we are talking about, and it’s the only piece about going to the WIC that matters. Getting hung up on the “Weapons” piece of Weapons School is missing the forest for the first tree seen. Chuck

To him. We have too few heroes in this world that deserve looking up to. He was one. https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2019/01/14/air-force-legend-medal-of-honor-recipient-joe-jackson-dies-at-95/

In case anyone runs across the same questions in the future, I got the following direction from one POC / Wing Recruiter: To: Leave Blank Specialty: 11FX (or as appropriate for the specific squadrons air-frame) Page 4 Item 1 & 2: Leave Blank Hope this helps!

Mostly what Weed said. Line bidding has a packet of pre-built monthly schedules. Then you just rank order the lines and they award them down the list. PBS - you put in your preferences and and the system builds you a line. What weed said about it avoiding conflicts is true, but it is a contractual thing. You most certainly CAN have conflict bidding with PBS but most do not right now based on current contracts. An example my monthly bid looks something like this.... Set condition to min credit Prefer off Saturdays Prefer off 17Jan, 18Jan, 19Jan Avoid if layover in GRU, LOS Avoid if layover >48 hours Avoid if trip length > 6 days Award if HNL limit 1 Award if 4-day if DH day if layover in AMS Award if 3-day if layover in AMS Award if layover in FCO PBS will then start at the top and try to honor every possible line from top to bottom. Even at 90% in my category I can generally build a line within the parameters I ask for...for example in December I was able to build a line that gave me from 20Dec to 31Dec off and gave me the layovers I wanted. Some months are better than others.

That’s not what your mom said.

Am I disappointed I didn’t get picked up for UPT? Of course. But I will say, I feel better about it seeing the quality of the people who did get picked up. It was quite competitive and there were a ton of folks who probably deserve an opportunity. With that being said, I’m also a firm believer in everything happening for a reason. I’m looking forward to becoming an ABM.

There's probably not a specific seniority level in each seat that equates to being able to consistently hold those. I looked at the FOs in the 757 (i.e. the most junior position) for this month. There are pilots in that seat who have been here less than a year who got DDHs (May 2018 hire). The ones who are a little further up the list and actually had a choice of several different DDHs, i.e. it wasn't just a lucky fluke, have been here right around one year. 767 FOs are at about the 3 year point. That will likely improve with that fleet scheduled to double from 60 a/c to 120 a/c, all brand new off the assembly line, over the next 2 years. The other two domestic fleets (MD-11/A300) are in transition, slowly, toward being retired. That's happening at a glacial pace at the moment and will likely last well into the 2020s, but it makes predicting monthly schedule bids difficult. 777 doesn't have anywhere near the same amount of DDHs as the domestic fleets, but if the deadheads are domestic, they're not difficult to get after just a few years. A typical sequence would be DH to Indianapolis, work to Paris and around the world from there, end up in OAK at the end or even back in IND after flying from Asia and DH home from there. Domestically, when a pilot is flying a series of single-day hub turn trips, they can have the equivalent of a DDH week long trip. The line builders or just a pilot using aggressive trip trading can create a DDH week by trading for a front end DH on Monday (or Sunday) and back-end DH on Friday or Saturday. The end result is the same as a week long DDH trip. So, just because you may not be able to hold a true DDH outright doesn't mean you can't create one for yourself if you hawk open time looking to trade. One note of caution: On any fleet, but especially the 777, putting a deadhead on the front and back of an otherwise shitty trip is the scheduler's version of putting lipstick on a pig. Guys will jump all over those without even a cursory glance at what they'll be doing once they get to their first revenue city and end up finishing the trip with a 1000-yard stare saying their "never agains". DDHs are nice in theory and frequently in practice as well. But, unless we're talking about a small number of "unicorn scenarios", they probably aren't going to make or break your QOL. Holding DDHs to and from one's home airport being the ultimate unicorn. The actual nuts and bolts of a particular DDH trip are going to determine if it's even something you want to fly. For example - unless you live in a hub city for one of the major US carriers or are deadheading TO one of those same cities, your deadhead is most likely going to be a two-leg event domestically. You live in Nashville or Phoenix and have a DDH in and out of Greensboro, NC. You have to be there on Monday by 1330L. If you're coming from Nashville that's probably doable if you're on the o-dark-thirty, first flight out to Charlotte, DC or ATL to connect to each major airline's GSO flight. Depending on Wx, if you're on probation, etc. you may not feel comfy with that since you probably don't have any back-up options based on the timing, so you decide to leave Sunday and get in position early. FedEx will cover the extra hotel in that situation (if you have extra travel $$) but you're not getting paid until Mon morning when your actual deadhead would have left MEM. Coming from PHX or some other west-ish coast location, you're definitely leaving Sunday. Maybe in either situation, you'd rather be commuting in Monday night on our jump seat to start your first trip out of MEM since you'll have a guaranteed seat on the flight in, commuter protection and less time off the clock commuting. DDHs or even just front end or back-end DHs can be great enhancements to a commuters QOL, no doubt. But that's going to be highly dependent on each pilot's situation.

Late to the post but got picked up for URT!!(currently a CSO) Im super excited for this new opportunity! Can’t wait! Congrats to all selects as well! Also if anyone has questions about UCT or If you got ABM selected and want to know about the JSTARS or life at Robins AFB, hit me up

If the bad guys don’t know you’re there .... or can’t do anything about it if they do know ... you can linger as long as you like, or as long as fuel allows for an air breathing asset.

For those reading, keep in mind you only get 120 hours of mil leave, so any DSG work done after 3 weeks worth of work is not double dipping - the math may not be as simple as ART pay chart + DSG pay = Gross Pay. You may actually make less from your ART job than the chart (but maybe in the big picture make more if you were on extended MPA, etc. orders). Only consider this if you seriously think you're going to be an ART for the long term, retire, and understand you won't collect until around 57-60 yrs old. That buy back is a terrible idea if there's even a half way chance you'll not be a permanent ART in a couple years (i.e. take an AGR position in the future and get to a 20 yr AD retirement). If the latter happens, you would have been significantly better off putting that money in an investment vehicle. I think it was a much better deal in the past when getting an AGR retirement was very difficult and the airlines weren't hiring. Bottom line, recommend any new ART give it some time and make sure long term ART is what you want before you make this move. I think you have a couple years to make the decision before the option is off the table.

AFPC will start loading one by one after public release. Then it is up to your MPF and training monitor to inform you. I would realistically envision Thursday at the soonest for most.

This. Good attitude, great words. Humbleness will take you far and it sounds like ABM land just got a great officer. All the best

Can anyone explain the differences between line bidding and PBS to an idiot like myself? Pretend like you're explaining it to a 5th grader. Examples would be great.

DPs do not equal promotion. BTZ DP rate could be 69%...the actual # of promotions is the 10%.

He's a dishonest huckster because you believe you've found a semantical flaw in the phrase "cultural Marxism" that he uses in a few of his arguments? He repeatedly admits he is open to the idea that there could be errors in his logic, and seeks to find intellectually honest debates to find "truth". You're simply dismissing the entirety of the man's ideas because you disagree with the way he placed two words together, yet you're providing no original alternatives to any of them... and it took you 4 paragraphs to do it, which reeks more of pseudo-intellectualism than anything he has said.

(Forced gazing) Seriously. I wish I could understand a 1/10 of that. Seems like it would be interesting. Oh well, back to football and beer.

They will just go back to doing PRFs and kicking out the bottom 10% of captains