We are aware of some issues with some Flight Attendants not being able to submit their bids. This is related to a change in terminology with ‘Forget’ and ‘Redo’. Another issue discovered is being able to ‘Forget’ one type of bid line is not working properly. The new functionality is designed to maximize the number of days off you get with the prefer off bid.
In both the previous and new functionality, if a complete line cannot be built in the first completion attempt, it will go into top down inclusion:
- In the previous functionality, when top down inclusion got to the prefer off day of week bid, it would add them in date order, trying to build a line with each additional date.
- In the new functionality, when top down inclusion gets to the prefer off day of week bid, it will look at all possibilities to maximize the total number of that day that you get off. It attempts to build a line with at least 1 of that day off, then at least 2 of that day off, etc. It continues this process and attempts get as many of those days off in the completed line as it can.
Because of this changed functionality it was determined that a ‘forget’ was not necessary for this bid as it is attempting all possible combinations to get the best possible result. As an alternative, you can use ‘Avoid Pairings if Departing On Friday’ instead of ‘Prefer Off Friday’ as that would be forgettable. Also, using ‘Avoid Pairings if Duty on Friday’ could be used an alternative as well.
As a reminder, all negative (prefer off, avoid) bids should be placed in the order of priority in your bid group. Bids are read in order of importance from the top down.
Considering these issues and new functionalities, we have extended the bidding window. Bidding will now close on Tuesday, April 11, 2017 at 09:00. Bid results will still be published at the regularly scheduled time.
*** Please note, the date for Open Time trading will NOT change. ***
Once again, we apologize for any confusion these issues have caused. We are in contact with Navblue and are working on a solution to ensure programming changes are communicated to us well in advance of bidding.
Thank you for your understanding. If you have any questions or need PBS help, please email PBS.QA@alaskaair.com.
