Greetings,

PBS  - Were your results satisfactory?

Here are some suggestions for bidding with ClassBid

Did you ask for what you wanted?

Are you wondering why someone junior received a pairing or position you wanted?   If you want to fly a particular position or want a particular length of pairing you have to say so.  ClassBid does not know that you really wanted to be the FA position or that you really meant you wanted the two day CUN, not the four day CUN.   Don’t assume anything?.a computer program is building your schedule and you have to tell it exactly what you want.

ClassBid will only read one bid – either Regular or Default

If you have entered anything ...even a single line under Start Trips or Start Reserve ... in your Regular bid, ClassBid will not read your default bid.  If you plan on entering a Regular bid every month then be sure to finish it.

Prefer Reserve over being a Lineholder?

Entering only a Reserve bid doesn’t mean you will automatically be awarded a Reserve line.  ClassBid always reads your bid starting at the top at Start Trips.  If you do not have any preferences, it will then read the auto-generated ‘Award Pairings’ preference and attempt to build you a legal line with remaining pairings. If you would prefer Reserve over holding a line, you must enter the preference ‘Award Line Reserve’ under Start Trips in your bid. Then put your reserve preferences under Start Reserve.

Using Reserve - Minimum Days Off

Reserves may not wish to use Set Condition Minimum Days Off  as this preference may possibly have a detrimental effect on your line award.  For example, if you said Set Condition Minimum Days Off 3 and then requested a PM line, the program might have to deny your PM request in order to fufill the minimum three days off in a row every week?now putting on you as AM.

Don’t be forced onto Reserve

Make sure that a bid (regular or default) has been submitted before bids close at 0900 on the 10^th.    If you do not have any bid submitted you will be assigned a reserve line. 

Buddy Bidding/Award If Arctic Number

When Buddy Bidding,  the schedule for both buddies is built based on the junior FA’s bid.   Any position requests (both ‘Award’ and ‘Avoid’) are only respected for the junior FA?not for the senior.   When building the senior’s line the primary goal of the program is to place the senior on the same pairing number as the junior and it will disregard any position requests.  You can try putting in the  more junior FA’s bid  to ‘avoid’ the FA position and FD position but this still does not guarantee that the more senior FA  won’t end up with the FA position or FD position.

An alternative to Buddy Bidding is using ‘Award Pairings If Arctic Number’ as position requests are taken into consideration when using this preference. This preference attempts to  match the FA’s on identical pairing numbers or  flight number(s) and is used by a junior FA trying to fly with their senior friend.  Note that it does not guarantee that you will always be on the same pairing as in Buddy Bidding as swapping of pairings can occur during line building.

Buddy Bidding/Award If Arctic Number (continued)

The important thing to remember when using this preference is that you need to add a qualifier - something that will specify what you want to fly with your friend in order to help ensure you are on the exact same pairing.   For example, you might say ‘Award Pairing If Arctic Number 012345 If Position FB, FC’ as that would tell the program that you wanted to fly with your friend as long as you could be FB or FC.  If the more senior FA had also requested to be FB or FC then you would be in the back together. 

You can also get more specific by giving exact pairing numbers and days or dates you both like to fly.  For example: ‘Award Pairing If Arctic Number 012345 If Departing on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday If Pairing Number S5345 If Position FB, FC, FA’.  The more senior FA would want to bid for the same days and pairing number but perhaps the senior will leave out the FA position in their bid.  Since the program reads position requests from left to right, the junior has tried their best to be together in coach?with  the more junior FA willing to work the FA position as a last resort.  Maybe the other FA in the back on the pairing would swap positions?  If under no circumstances is the more junior FA willing to fly the FA position then they would omit the FA position in their request.

Both junior and senior may want to have ‘Avoid Pairing If Position FD’ in their bid.  Avoid the FD because the program could possibly match you by a flight number(s).  ClassBid could award one of you a turn and the other a four day because both pairings happen to have one flight number in common on both pairings.  Although it awarded the more junior FA what they requested, it was probably not your intention to only fly one leg together.

Alaska is planning on building the -800 and -900 as pure pairings by early next year so that all positions (FA, FB, FC and FD) will be be contained in the same pairing number.

We hope these suggestions will be helpful to you in next month’s bidding!  Your PBS base trainers will be available again to assist you at your base starting October 5^th.  Questions can be sent at any time to the  Class Bid Q&A conference in FirstClass.

Your PBS Committee