What is ‘my 6E-date’? What is the rule for scheduling of flight duties for a pilot before and after a 6E-date or a pilot proceeding/joining back from Vacation (VAC)?

What is ‘my 6E-date’? What is the rule for scheduling of flight duties for a pilot before and after a 6E-date or a pilot proceeding/joining back from Vacation (VAC)?

My 6E-date is an initiative undertaken to assist our pilots to request for 6 specific days OFF in a year to be able to spend time with their family on their special days/occasions. Following are the guidelines for allocation of these dates. •    The automated roster is configured to keep the pilot OFF duty for a period of 24 hours from 0000-2400 Hrs. on the day of the 6e date and VAC. •    There is a soft rule in the system to assign an early finish before the 6E-date/VAC and a late start after the 6E-date/VAC. If flight coverage is not being achieved, then the system may assign an early morning duty after a 6E-date/VAC or a late finish before the 6E-date/VAC. However, the system will assign such duties only if it is an operational necessity. •    Pilots are encouraged to use the PBS feature to bid for desired duties before and after the 6E-date/VAC. •    It may be worth noting that crew pairings across the network are such that, a significant proportion of all pairings (currently almost 50%), begin between the window of 0400 and 0700 Local Time. This constraint changes by base, and is dependent on the commercial schedule as well as volume of aircraft based at the station. •    With such large volume of pairings starting early morning, it is not practical to have rules in AIMS that will guarantee a later start in the day post these holiday events, especially without incurring additional headcount and lowering crew productivity. •    The ‘my 6E-dates’ feature is extended to pilots over and above their contractual OFF’s. If possible, a pilot may be accorded an OFG/OFF on his/her 6E-date and if not then the 6e-date will be a standalone day wherein the pilot will not be assigned any duty with the roster reflecting the code “6ED” on that day. Operationally it is not feasible to keep the pilot OFF for more than 24 hours as it may hamper coverage of flights. Therefore, a pilot should use the PBS feature to bid for duties before and after his/her 6E-date or VAC. •    A pilot can request consecutive 6e-dates as well. A maximum of 2 6E-dates can be requested together, for example, 20th Feb and 21st Feb. However, it is worth noting that on festival days/new year’s eve, it will be difficult to accommodate consecutive 6E-dates and the same will be granted after evaluation and on a best effort basis.