Vacation Bid Generator

It is important to understand how the company's vacation bid system processes bids in order to create an effective bid yourself.

The company's system awards vacation weeks based on seniority, vacation week availability, and the order in which each pilot prioritizes their vacation week bids. The system starts with the most senior pilot in each fleet and seat, processes their bid sheet, and works down the seniority list for that fleet and seat.

When the system gets to you, it starts in the Week A column and goes through your bids in that column only, 01A-52A, in order. It awards the first available week it comes across in the Week A column, then it moves on to the Week B column. It then looks at your Week B bids, 01B-52B, in order, and awards the first available week it finds in that column, and so on through Week C and Week D if applicable.

The system does not look at 01A, then 01B, then 01C, etc. Each Week column is an independent set of bids for one of your vacation weeks. All Week A bids are bids for your first week of vacation, all Week B bids are for your second week of vacation, and so on. Additionally, if you are awarded a vacation week in a column, such as 03A (your third choice for Week A), your bids for 04A-52A will not be considered because your Week A has already been awarded. The system would move on to Week B and start at 01B.

Understanding this, you can create more effective bids, especially if you are attempting to remove specific tours on a fixed schedule or receive certain combinations of vacation weeks together.

Begin by selecting the appropriate vacation bid period from the Vacation Bid Period dropdown at the top of the page. This will generate the correct calendar and week columns with the actual weeks and dates for that vacation bid period.

The Preference Mode setting is an important one which affects how the Bid Generator tool functions:

• All Weeks mode allows you to prioritize all your vacation weeks in one list. This is the simpler mode, and is recommended if your vacation weeks are independently important.
• Individual Weeks mode allows you to prioritize vacation weeks individually for each of your vacation week columns (Week A, Week B, etc.). This is useful if you have specific combinations of weeks you want to prioritize together, or if you are trying to remove certain fixed tours from your schedule.

You can switch between these modes as needed. See the Bid System Logic and Bidding Strategies tabs for more information on how to use these modes effectively.

Next, select the number of vacation weeks you are entitled to, or alternately, enter your hire date and the system will calculate the number of vacation weeks you are entitled to automatically. This will result in Weeks A, B, C, and D being displayed throughout the Bid Generator as appropriate.

The Overlay Schedule on Calendar option allows you to overlay a fixed schedule onto the calendar to help identify which vacation weeks touch the tours in that schedule. This is useful if you know you are going to be on a certain schedule and want to plan the elimination of specific tours with vacation weeks.

You can enter your preferred vacation weeks and rank them by numerical priority using the Vacation Calendar visually, or using the Vacation Week List in a list format. Entering a preference in one location will update the other automatically.

To use the Vacation Calendar, hover over the calendar to highlight each vacation week. Click on a week to add or edit your preference for that week. You can set a priority number ranking, which will keep that week highlighted on the calendar and display your priority number at the beginning of the week. You can rank as many or as few weeks as you like.

To use the Vacation Week List, you can either enter a priority number ranking directly into the list on the left side of a week, or use the buttons to adjust rankings:

• The button will move the week to the top of the list and set it's priority to 1.
• The and buttons will move the week up or down one spot in the priority order. If the week does not have a priority number yet, these buttons will set the priority number to the last position.
• The button will remove that week from your preferences and clear its priority ranking.

"All Weeks" vs. "Individual Weeks" Preference Modes

In All Weeks mode, you are prioritizing all your vacation weeks together in one list, and the system will generate a bid form with all your weeks ranked in the same order for each of your Week A, Week B, etc. columns. This is a simpler way to prioritize your weeks if you do not have specific combinations of weeks you want to prioritize together. Only one set of priorities is displayed on the calendar and in the list of weeks. Your first, second, third, and fourth week bids will be staggered across Week A/B/C/D on the suggested bid sheet as appropriate - this is intended behavior, because if you cannot hold a week as 01A you cannot hold it as 01B, etc.

In Individual Weeks mode, you are prioritizing vacation weeks separately for each of your Week A, Week B, etc. columns. This allows you to create specific combinations of weeks you want to prioritize together, which can be useful if you are trying to remove certain tours on a fixed schedule or receive certain combinations of weeks together. You can select which A/B/C/D Week you wish to work with at the top of the calendar. A column representing each A/B/C/D Week will be displayed below the calendar as well. The preferences you enter in this mode will translate directly to the suggested bid sheet.

In either mode, the vacation week list will show the weeks in the order you have ranked them, with the highest priority week at the top. Unranked weeks are shown below ranked weeks, in chronological order. The calendar will show the same priority numbers on the weeks in the calendar. You can use whichever interface you prefer, calendar or list - they will both update together.

See the Bid System Logic and Bidding Strategies tabs for more information on how to use these modes more effectively.

Your Suggested Vacation Bid

As you enter your preferences, the tool will generate a suggested vacation bid form in the output section at the bottom of the page. You can copy this suggested bid form into the vacation bid system. Remember, this is a suggested bid based on your inputs - always verify that it looks correct before submitting.

Most bidding strategies involve the use of the "Individual Weeks" preference mode, which allows you to prioritize weeks individually for each of your vacation week columns (Week A, Week B, etc.). This is useful if you have specific combinations of weeks you want to prioritize together, or if you are trying to remove several certain fixed tours from your schedule.

Removing Specific Tours on a Fixed Schedule

On a fixed schedule, the tour a vacation week touches is removed. There are typically two vacation weeks which touch any given tour. Bid both vacation weeks next to each other in one single week column (i.e. 01A and 02A in Week A) to increase your chances of removing that tour by receiving either vacation week if it is available. You can then target another tour in Week B using the same strategy. Placing weeks next to each other in one column will not result in consecutive vacation weeks because you are only awarded one week per each column.

Receiving Certain Combinations of Vacation Weeks

If you want to receive certain combinations of vacation weeks together, such as two specific weeks that are not next to each other on the calendar, you can place those weeks at the same priority in different columns to increase your chances of receiving both together. For example, if the more important week is a week in April and the less important week is a week in June, place the April week as 01A and the June week as 01B. On top of that, you could bid the June week as 02A as well, and you might receive it as your A Week if 01A (April) was not available, allowing you to have additional possibilities for bids in your B Week column as a fallback.

You can expand this strategy to more than two weeks as well. Bid the first week you want as 01A, the second week you want as 02A and 01B, the third week you want as 03A, 02B, and 01C if applicable, and so on. This is the same strategy that the "All Weeks" preference mode uses to prioritize a single list of vacation weeks.

Bidding Vacation on a CC Schedule

When bidding vacation on a CC schedule, you will receive the exact vacation days you bid, plus 4 duty free days on each side of the vacation week, for a total of 15 guaranteed consecutive days off. Although you will not know your exact duty days until the schedule is published, you can at least know what days your vacation week will provide off.

Bidding Vacations Which Involve a Seam Period

Vacation rules are different when a seam period is involved. It is recommended to contact your union's Scheduling Committee with questions regarding bidding vacations that involve a seam period (i.e. changing between fixed schedules across bid periods in Jan-Feb, May-June, or Sept-Oct).

Failure to Bid

If you do not submit a bid at all, you will be assigned random vacation weeks which will almost certainly not be desirable. You may also receive consecutive vacation weeks. Make sure you submit a vacation bid by the bid deadline.

Bidding Only One Column

If you only enter bids in one column (e.g., only Week A), you are effectively only bidding for one week of vacation. You will receive randomly assigned vacation weeks for the other columns, which likely will not be desirable.

Redundant Bids

If you simply put the same week as 01A, 01B, 01C, and 01D, it is an ineffective bid because if you cannot hold the week as 01A, you will not be able to hold it as 01B, 01C, or 01D either. While it does not hurt anything to do so, it shows a lack of understanding of how the system processes your bid.

Underbidding

If you do not enter a bid in every single box in a Week A/B/C/D column, you risk being assigned a random vacation week which may not be desirable. The odds of this increase the lower your seniority, or if you are bidding for more desirable vacation weeks such as those over the summer or involving holidays. The only way to guarantee that you will not be assigned a random vacation week is to assign a priority to every single week and fill in every spot on the bid sheet. Consider bidding for weeks during certain times of the year which you would prefer to be off. If you truly don't care about being assigned a random vacation week if you do not receive any of your bids, underbidding is fine.

Consecutive vacation weeks are two vacation weeks which would remove two consecutive tours on a fixed schedule, or two vacation weeks which are within two weeks of each other on a CC schedule because the resulting duty-free periods would overlap. This is determined by the schedule you are on as of October at the start of the vacation period. On the company bid sheet, this preference is controlled by checking the Do not award consecutive vacation weeks option if you do not want consecutive vacation weeks.

Even if your vacation bid separates all 52 vacation weeks by several weeks each, you do not know what weeks you will be awarded until the bid runs. Additionally, if you underbid, you are at risk of receiving consecutive vacation weeks from whatever is left over and randomly assigned. Be sure to check the Do not award consecutive vacation weeks option on the company bid sheet if you want to avoid consecutive vacation weeks.

Alternatively, if you desire consecutive vacation weeks, you can prioritize weeks next to each other in adjacent week columns (i.e. the first week as 01A in Week A and the second week as 01B in Week B) to increase your chances of receiving those consecutive weeks together. Placing weeks next to each other in one column (i.e. 01A and 02A) will not result in consecutive vacation weeks because you are only awarded one week per each column.

You can only be awarded two consecutive vacation weeks. Three or more consecutive vacation weeks are not allowed.