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Alaska Airlines retain Navtech for crew planning

At the behest of crew, use of PBS will continue.   Alaska’s Inflight Crewmembers voted on their current Navtech planning tool PBS, which consists of the scheduling and bidding components they have used for the past two years, and of the 86.4per cent voting 70.6per cent agreed to retain the system.

“We’ve carefully developed Navtech PBS to ensure it addresses not only the needs of the airlines, but the crew — whose work lives are significantly impacted by planning tools – as well,” said Mike Hulley, Navtech CEO.  “It’s gratifying to see the payoff of this commitment, knowing that crew specifically chose to retain this product.”

Alaska Airlines has used Navtech PBS since 2005.  Crew members will continue to experience PBS Bidder’s intuitive user interface that enables them to customize their bid requests according to their preferences. They also have easy access to their awards with detailed pairing information and a report explaining the results of each bid preference, including why a preference was or wasn't awarded.

PBS Bidder works seamlessly with its Scheduler counterpart to create a Pairing and Reserve schedule that satisfies management's coverage needs and crew members' flying preferences. The PBS Scheduler gives administrators the ability to manage all of the information pertaining to crew members and the bid period, and then, balances it against important details such as the airline's rules, the seniority of the individual crew members, details for the bid period and more.  The Scheduler gives administrators access to multiple reports on crew members, pairings, and bid period information and also allows for swapping, substitution, and shuffling routines.