AFA Alaska

Representing the Flight Attendants of Alaska + Hawaiian

Click here to report an issue to AFA
Menu
  • Local Councils
    • Anchorage (Council 30)
      • Officers
      • Committees
    • Honolulu (Council 43)
    • Los Angeles (Council 18/pmAS)
      • Officers
      • Committees
      • Los Angeles (Council 47/pmHA)
        • Officers
      • Portland (Council 39)
        • Officers
        • Committees
      • San Diego (Council 15)
        • Officers
        • Committees
        • Seattle (Council 19)
          • Officers
          • Committees
        • San Francisco (Council 35)
          • Officers
          • Committees

        • More About Local Councils >>
        Close
      • Master Executive Council
        • Officers
        • Close
      • Committees
          • Air Safety, Health, & Security (ASHSC)
            • Air Quality
          • Benefits
          • Communications
          • Employee Assistance Program & Professional Standards
          • Government Affairs
          • Grievance
          • Hotel
          • Human Rights & Equity
          • Inflight Service
          • Inflight Training
          • Membership
          • Membership Engagement
          • Reserve
          • Retirement
          • Scheduling
            • Pairing Construction
            • Preferential Bidding System (PBS)
          • Uniform

        • More About Committees >>
        Close
      • Contract
          • Contract Home
            • 2025 Alaska TA2 (Ratified)
            • 2018 Alaska JCBA
            • 2020 Hawaiian Contract
            • Ask Contract Questions
          • Contract Resources
          • Alaska Contract Negotiations (2022-2025)
        • Close
      • Resources
          • What To Do If You Encounter Contaminated Cabin Air
          • Issues & Campaigns
          • Newsroom
            • AFA News Now
          • Event Calendar
          • Membership Services
          • New Members
          • About
          • Links
          Close
        • Merger
          • Joint Negotiating Committee
          • Close
        • Contact Us
        You are here: Home / Latest News / Preferential Bidding System (PBS) Update for May 2015

        Preferential Bidding System (PBS) Update for May 2015

        April 4, 2015 16:48

        The PBS program was down for a short while on March 18th so that a program update could be installed. This update addresses the contractual changes related to bidding in April for May schedules. Please familiarize yourself with these PBS-related changes and pass the word about them. Both management and AFA will be communicating the many changes coming in April for May…both bidding-related and pay-related.

        Effective bidding in April for May:

        Minimum TFP bid eliminated: 

        The ‘Set Condition Minimum TFP’ bid preference is no longer available. This bid preference will still appear on PBS for a few more months until it can be removed…but if you bid for a Minimum TFP line that request will NOT be honored. All lines will be built within the ‘Normal’ range of TFP. The ‘Set Condition Maximum TFP’ bid is still available, giving you a line built between the base line average and the maximum allowed that month. If you’re currently using ‘Set Condition Minimum TFP’ you might want to delete that line from your bid…it will no longer be honored.

        Change in Bid Protest:

        The bid protest period will now be from 9am Pacific on the 13th to 9am Pacific on the 14th…24 hours in length. The reason for this is that very few protests were filed in the second day of bid protest. You can send your line award question to the PBS Q&A at any time outside the bid protest period. See Sec 10 Par L for information regarding Bid Protest.

        New Line Average Range:

        The monthly posted ‘base line average’ can now range from a low of 75tfp to a high of 85tfp. If past history is any guide, you can expect higher line averages in the summer and lower line averages in the winter (except possibly December). Remember, a ‘legal’ line can range anywhere from 10tfp below the posted line average to 10tfp above. Again, the ‘Minimum TFP’ bid has been eliminated but the ‘Maximum TFP’ bid remains available.

        New rules:

        1. No Same-Day Pairings will be awarded (two pairings on the same calendar day) unless…

        PBS will no longer be able to award you more than one pairing on any calendar day. You can waive this new rule if you wish…look for this option at the ‘Waive’ tab. If you wish to be awarded back-to-back SEA-ANC/FAI redeye turns, consecutive LAX-GDL/MEX pairings, back-to-back ANC-Hawaii-ANC-ORD pairings or ANY other situation where you wish to be awarded two different pairing numbers on the same day then you must ‘waive’ the ‘No Same-Day Pairings’ rule.

        ‘Coverage Awards’ and this new rule…attention junior lineholders!!

         This new rule ALSO applies to ‘Coverage Awards’ (aka ‘unstacking). You cannot be forced-assigned two different pairings on the same day (get home in the morning and leave again that evening). Most all would agree this is a good thing but there is a potential down-side for the most junior lineholders. If being awarded two pairings on the same day was necessary for someone to hold a line and they failed to ‘waive’ the rule, they could be potentially forced to Reserve. This is a tough call…no one can tell you whether to ‘waive’ this new rule or not….or what might happen in any given month.

        1. No Charters can be awarded by PBS unless…

        Charters cannot be awarded or forced onto anyone via ‘Coverage Awards’ during bidding. If you’re ANC-based and wish to bid for RDG charters, you MUST waive the new ‘No Charters’ rule at the ‘Waive’ tab and ‘Allow Charters‘. The ANC-Red Dog charter is currently the only ‘known charter’ that can be bid for during bidding on PBS. Other frequent charters such as the Apple charter (ORD-PVR) have such a long duty day that they cannot be bid for or awarded during PBS bid awards.

        1. 48/7 waiver

        Lineholders can now ‘waive’ the 48/7 contractual rest rule down to 24 hours off, Look for this option at the ‘Waive’ tab.  A Lineholder could have as little as 24 hours off between up to six-day blocks of flying.  Contractual rest must be at your base for bidding purposes…only during trading can it be on a layover.

         

        If you do NOT choose to ‘waive’ the ’48/7′ rule then your line award must still respect that rule during line construction.

         

        1.  New six day block option for Reserves

        Reserves can fly a block of six days instead of the previous five days maximum.  The ‘Waive Maximum Days On 5’ option is found at the ‘Waive’ tab. The minimum two calendar days off per week rule is still in effect.   This new ‘waive’ option will assist the bidder in potentially getting a longer stretch of days off somewhere in the month.  For example, by flying six on, two off, six on, two off, six on you can now potentially have up to eight consecutive days off in a 30-day month, nine consecutive days off in a 31 day month.  Being able to hold this long of stretch of days off may be contingent on the requirement for someone to work ‘Coverage’ days in a month.

        New flying:

        Long Stage Length/Duty Period pairings

        Long Duty Period (aka ‘4K’) pairings will not be awarded during bidding unless you ‘waive’ that rule. There is a separate rule for both day and redeye 4k pairings. Go to the ‘Waive’ tab to ‘Allow Non-Redeye Long Duty Period Pairings’ or ‘Allow Redeye Long Duty Period Pairings’. If you wish to waive both rules, you must enter two separate lines. If you are waiving the ‘Non-Redeye’ rule, this will NOT allow the program to award you a ‘Redeye’ 4k pairing.

        Redeye Definition: Any flight that departs between 14:00 and 04:00 that then lands between 02:00 and 12:00.

        Screenshot that includes the new ‘Waive’ options…found at the ‘Waive’ tab:

        Add Bid Preference to Default BidIf you have any questions, send them to PBS Q&A via Outlook or FirstClass.

        Thanks!

        Your AFA PBS Committee—MEC chairperson Stephen Poynter, Rebecca Asbell; and MEC Scheduling chairperson Jake Jones

        Print Friendly, PDF & Email

        Filed Under: Latest News, Preferential Bidding System (PBS)

        Comments

        1. Gwendolyn says

          April 9, 2015 at 16:31

          The Waive rules are very confusing the way they are written on the Tab

          Allow Charters? If I waive does that mean I won’t be able to pick up charters?

          I fly all nighters back to back I waived the same day… Is there something else I need to waive as well???

          • Jeffrey Peterson (MEC President) says

            April 11, 2015 at 15:58

            “Allow Charters” really only affects the Anchorage base with Red Dog charters currently. Charters cannot be traded even if bid and awarded in PBS so the “Allow Charters” waiver guarantees that a flight attendant is aware s/he wants a charter. In the past, some F/As were unstacked a Red Dog charter and then couldn’t trade it so this is why the new waive is in place. The PBS waiver has no effect on choosing to bid non-PBS charters later.

            If you want to fly back to back Nighters then you did the right thing. There is nothing else you have to do except to correctly bid for the desired Nighters of course! 😉

        Need Help?

        Have an issue or concern to report to AFA?  Click here to access the AFA Alaska online support center.

        Latest News

        • Refreshed Inflight Mobile Device (IMD) Distribution
        • AFA News in Review – September 26, 2025
        • Scheduling Committee Meeting Recap – September 2025
        • Meet Our Pre-Merger Alaska Committee Chairperson & Representatives
        • Inflight Service Committee Meeting Recap – 3rd Quarter 2025
        • Vacation Survey Closing Soon
        • Meet Our Merged MEC Committee Chairpersons
        • Human Rights & Equity Committee Meeting Recap – 3rd Quarter 2025
        • AFA News in Review – September 19, 2025
        • Pre-Merger Alaska MEC Committee Election Results

        Refreshed Inflight Mobile Device (IMD) Distribution

        October 2, 2025

        This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants Management has recently informed our Master Executive Council (MEC) that they are distributing new Inflight Mobile Devices (IMDs) to Flight Attendants with devices nearing the end of their lifecycle. The specific schedule for this distribution will be communicated by management separately. Flight Attendants with the oldest devices […]

        Scheduling Committee Meeting Recap – September 2025

        September 25, 2025

        This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants On Tuesday, September 23, our pre-merger Alaska AFA Scheduling Committee Chairpersons and Representatives met in person at Alaska Airlines Corporate Headquarters to discuss their ongoing work to represent our Flight Attendants and push for improvements in our workplace. Representing you at the meeting were Heather Reier (ANC), […]

        Meet Our Pre-Merger Alaska Committee Chairperson & Representatives

        September 24, 2025

        This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants We’re excited to introduce the first group of pre-merger Alaska MEC Committee Chairpersons and Representatives for the upcoming MEC Officer term. They’ll begin transitioning into their roles over the next few months and officially start their terms on January 1, 2026. Below, you’ll find brief biographies that […]

        Inflight Service Committee Meeting Recap – 3rd Quarter 2025

        September 24, 2025

        On Thursday, September 18, our AFA Inflight Service Committee Chairpersons met to discuss their ongoing efforts to represent our Flight Attendants and advocate for improvements in our workplace. Although our Inflight Service Committee has now merged, meetings with management continue to focus primarily on the Alaska or Hawaiian brands individually. This particular meeting was centered […]

        Vacation Survey Closing Soon

        September 23, 2025

        There’s just 1 DAY LEFT to complete the crucial vacation survey that will help shape future provisions—your insights are essential for advocating the best outcomes for all Flight Attendants. The survey is currently open and will remain available until Wednesday, September 24 at 12 PM PT.

        Recent Posts

        • Refreshed Inflight Mobile Device (IMD) Distribution
        • AFA News in Review – September 26, 2025
        • Scheduling Committee Meeting Recap – September 2025
        • Meet Our Pre-Merger Alaska Committee Chairperson & Representatives
        • Inflight Service Committee Meeting Recap – 3rd Quarter 2025
        • Vacation Survey Closing Soon
        • Meet Our Merged MEC Committee Chairpersons
        • Human Rights & Equity Committee Meeting Recap – 3rd Quarter 2025
        • AFA News in Review – September 19, 2025
        • Pre-Merger Alaska MEC Committee Election Results
        • Merged MEC Committee Chairperson Election Results
        • Election Notice: Alaska + Hawaiian MEC Officer Elections
        • SEA Domicile Negotiations – September 2025 Update #2
        • Reserve Committee Meeting Recap – 3rd Quarter 2025
        • Celebrating Hispanic-Latinx Heritage Month

        Local Councils

        • Anchorage
        • Honolulu
        • Los Angeles (pre-merger Alaska)
        • Los Angeles (pre-merger Hawaiian)
        • Portland
        • San Diego
        • San Francisco
        • Seattle

        Master Executive Council

        • MEC

        Negotiations

        • Contract 2022 Home
        • Negotiations News
        • TA2 Information

        Contract

        • Contract Home

        Committees

        • Air Safety, Health, & Security
        • Benefits
        • Communications
        • EAP/Professional Standards
        • Government Affairs
        • Grievance
        • Hotel
        • Human Rights
        • Inflight Service
        • Mobilization
        • Reserve
        • Retirement
        • Scheduling
        • Uniform

        News By Month

        News By Category

        AFA News Now Air Quality Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee (ASHSC) Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) AS/HA Merger AS/VX Merger Benefits Committee Committees Communications Committee Contract Contract 2014 Negotiations Blog Council 15 SAN Council 18 LAX Council 19 SEA Council 30 ANC Council 35 SFO Council 39 PDX EAP/Professional Standards Committee Extension 2021 Blog Featured Government Affairs Committee Grievance Committee Hotel Committee Human Rights & Equity Committee Industry News Inflight Service Committee Inflight Training Committee JNC Blog Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) Latest News Local Councils Master Executive Council (MEC) Membership Committee Membership Engagement Committee Message from the MEC President Mobilization Committee Negotiations Pairing Construction Preferential Bidding System (PBS) Press Releases Reserve Committee Retirement Committee Scheduling Committee Uniform Committee
        • Email
        • Facebook
        • Instagram
        • YouTube

        Want To Stay In The Loop?

        Stay up-to-date on AFA Alaska news and information by signing up for our email and text message updates. Click a button below to get started or update your preferences if you're already a subscriber.
        Sign Up for Emails
        Sign Up for Text Updates

        Connect With AFA

        • Contact Us
        • Online Support Center
        • AFA International
        • CWA
        • AFA Alaska Social Media Guidelines
        • AFA-CWA Mutual Respect Policy

        Copyright © 2013-2025 Alaska Airlines Master Executive Council, Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO