5.09.22 – PBS Reserve Bidding Reminders

Monday, May 9, 2022

PBS Reserve Bidding Reminders

Recently APFA Contract and Scheduling met with the Company PBS Team to discuss the issues we see with ballots and awards. We discovered some bidding errors and want to provide a few tips and reminders about bidding to help you have a more successful PBS reserve award.

(click photos below to enlarge)

Reminder 1:  Bidding on the ‘Reserve’ tab

Every month we hear from Flight Attendants asking why someone junior was awarded the days off they requested. When we review their bid, we discover that they bid days off on the regular PBS calendar and not the reserve calendar. Make sure you click on ‘Reserve’ on the header. Then, verify that you see numbers at the bottom of each date and bid on this calendar for Reserve days off.

Reminder 2:  Bidding all days off in layer one

Reserve PBS awards are cumulative – meaning you don’t need to request the same day off in more than one layer.

• If you want the 9th and 10th off, you should bid them in layer one, and that should be your only choice in layer one.
• If you would like the other weekends off, you can bid each weekend as a separate layer.
• Since the month shown has five weekends, you could bid each one on a separate layer.
• In your last two layers, you could bid a few Fridays off on one layer and then the rest of the Fridays on the last layer.
• As PBS goes through your bid, it will award as many days off as possible before moving to the next layer.
• All days off requested in each layer are equally important.

Reminder 3:  Standing bids for Reserve

Did you know you can create a standing bid for Reserve? This will help prevent you from not receiving an award should you not bid on the ‘Reserve’ tab – or if you forget to enter a bid. You can create a reserve standing bid by bidding the options available at the bottom of the PROPERTIES list:

• Reserve Day of Week Off
• Reserve Work Block Size
• Waive to Allow Carryover to be Days Off

You can create a standing reserve bid with seven layers – just like your usual PBS Reserve bid!

Here’s where you would go:

Please visit the APFA Scheduling Department page for more PBS bidding resources.

In Solidarity,

Jeff Petersen
APFA National Contract Chair
[email protected]

Marti McMillan
APFA National Scheduling Chair
[email protected]