When can I expect to receive the Crew Pairings so that I can start placing bids in PBS for the planning month?
The pairings are updated in the system on a live basis and you may bid for those flights after the 5th of each month, please utilize the ‘Trip List’ feature under PBS to help you identify the specific flight’s you’d like to bid. The target date for the release of crew pairings to pilots is the 6th of every month for the following month. This allows you to update your bids as required. Below are cases where a delay is expected:
• Season cut over (Summer – Winter – Summer) due to late finalization of the commercial schedule.
• Operational requirements, if the required availability of qualified crew does not match the actual availability. In this case, the Crew Pairings have to be reviewed and amended.
• Late finalization of the commercial schedule due to aircraft delivery delays and/or due to delay on approval of slots etc.
• Pilots can use the feature of ‘TRIP LIST’ in PBS to check for any pairing, and the trip lists are constantly updated. Using the trip list eliminates the need for the pilots to be dependent on the publishing of the crew pairings.
In most cases of such a delay, pilots are provided an extended window to update their bids. But this is not feasible all the time. Be assured that you will receive constant updates on the status of the above. However, pilots may place generic bids and bids for OFF days even before the crew pairings are uploaded.