Roster,what are yours like??

[airpoint]

A question to all of you out there.

What is your roster like? :)

Is there a great roster system out there that suits every body??

Do any of your companys use any of the following roster systems,if so what are they like??
CARMEN System(BA use it for crew planning for cabin crew in LGW and the PBS for it piolts based there and I hear rummour that the PBS {preferential bid system}that there will be a possibilty of it being developed for LHR base cabin crew soon??? SAS commuter also use carmens PBS other airline such as Lufthansa,Spanair,Aeromexico and Iberia use part of the carmen systems .Any thoughts on it, does it work for cabin crew??)

AD-OPT another company that provides rosters systems any of you use it ?

Mercury another roster system use to be used in BA gradually being phased out also used by a few other european airlines.

Does your roster offer you Flexibility can cabin crew drop/pick up flight how far in advance is this possible?

Do you have life style options?

Seniorty is everything based on seniority?

Is your roster fair and equitable??

Thanks for your info and any thoughts you may have. ;)
airpoint.

[This message has been edited by airpoint (edited 28 May 2001).]

[GalleyWench]

Airpoint, We are using a computer program from 1971 for our scheduling! I am astounded the computer does not actually use punch cards. We bid according to seniority,languages spoken and purser qualified. We receive our next months bids the 10th of the month prior and receive our 'awards' approx the 17th of the month. We can 'drop' up to 4 trips a month, to other colleagues. We can trade our trips with colleagues ( no limitations other than union legalities) and with 'open' trips in the company trip file. Trades with colleagues are awarded immediately, with the company twice a day. We have PTO (personal time off) which is approx 4 trips a year we can drop without pay. There is a limit to how many people can do this per day, again based on seniority. While our system has MANY faults, you can be clever and make it work for you.

[Bramble]

The system Airpoint uses is terrible,I work with him.We had a hand done roster but recently changed to a computerised system which seems more inefficient and inflexible than the older method. Airpoint is one of our reps and is doning a great job but the general mood is complete dissatisfaction with our current system.However as you can see our reps are trying to change the system.

[Evacu8]

The system we use is called CIS (Crew Interactive Screen).

It seems to work well, a purely seniority-based bid system, with rotational reserve every 13 months or so.

It creates a 56 day roster, you can bid for specific patterns/or flights , general destinations, general no. of days away, days off etc. Once the roster is published (about 20 days before the roster starts), you can trip swap trips, or swap the enitre roster if you wish. You can also drop trips (unpaid) if you need to.

We also have remote-bidding, ie the company gives us a disk so as we can access the system from our home internet. We can bid for our holidays, get our pay slips, bidding results, look at and bid for open time, get our roster changes, the company can send us messages, clear our available days etc ... all from home. It's very handy !!

It seems to be an OK system compared to some I have seen and heard about. But it does have it's flaws, mainly through being 'out-bidded' by someone junior to you, but it doesnt happen that often.

We also have access from home to our own cabin crew website, where they post all our manuals, notices, vacancies, service updates, and a question section where we can get rumours cleared up. And more recently we can now do diploma courses through the company, on-line, through the company's own 'college'....which are good if you want to further your education, and have qualifications that are relevant and recognised by the company (and at no cost !!).

It's all getting pretty high-tech.... now if only they could find a way for me to arm my doors and buy duty free from home, I would never have to go to work !! ;)

[Jungle Strip]

You lot don't know you're born.
Our rosters are organised by a lady called "Tracie" (what else?)
It is a dictatorship, not a democracy. No bidding... and no begging, pleading, whining or feigning death either. You are told where you are going, and when. As our French brethren might say: Point Non Plus.
But Tracie can be kind, during those three days of each month when she hasn't got PMS. Then, if you're very lucky, you get your roster as much as three weeks ahead. Pretty generous for longhaul. When that happens, if I wasn't, er, differently orientated, I could almost love our Trace.