Launching Q1 2027. Join the waitlist for early access.
14 CFR Part 121 · Pilot Bidding

Pilot bidding — LINE + PBS for Part 121 operators

Monthly bid packages, line-vs-PBS award algorithm, trip pairings, reserve management, trip trading, open-time pickup. The crew planner's full toolkit for Part 121.

app.aviationalley.com/app/bidding
Pilot bidding
B737 · DEN base · June package · PBS
Seniority #142 of 318 Award run · idempotent
LinePatternCreditStatus
Line 20415 on / 12 off84:20Awarded
Line 18713 on / 14 off78:05Bid #1
Line 16218 on / 9 off91:40Bid #2
ReserveShort call72:00Fallback
Hard rules filtered · soft rules scored · seniority-ordered, deterministic

What you get

LINE mode

Pilots rank lines in preferred order; the awards algorithm assigns top-of-list first, walks down the seniority list, and reserves the unawarded pool. Identical-output guarantee on re-runs.

PBS mode + 8-rule catalog

Preferential Bidding System with DAYS_OFF, DAYS_OFF_COUNT, CREDIT_RANGE, MAX_LEGS_PER_DAY, AVOID_LAYOVER_CITY, PREFER_LAYOVER_CITY, AVOID_REDEYE, WEEKEND_OFF. Each rule has hard/soft + weight.

Trip pairings

Per-line, atomic flight sequences (3-day trip DEN-LAX-SFO-DEN with 2 overnights). Builder UI captures legs, layover cities, credit + block values.

Reserve crew

Long-call (12-24h notice) and short-call (2-4h) rotations. Dispatcher callout flips ACTIVE → CALLED_OUT with reason + booking ref. No-contact = disciplinary event.

Trip trading + open-time

Drops / pickups / swaps. Auto-approve when no FAR 117 violation; planner reviews otherwise. Open-time board is materialized — pilots claim from the same view.

Awards re-run is idempotent

The awards algorithm is a pure function: same input always produces the same output. 11 unit tests cover seniority, hard rules, soft scoring, fallback, reserve, tiebreaker.

FAQ

Does it support FedEx-style seniority logic?

The base awards algorithm processes pilots in seniorityNumber ascending order. FedEx-specific logic (separate captain / first officer pools, junior-available-list cascades) is paid scoping on top of the base.

How do PBS hard rules vs soft rules work?

Hard rules filter the eligible line pool (e.g. DAYS_OFF_COUNT must be ≥ 12 → filter to lines with 12+ days off). Soft rules then score the remaining lines (e.g. AVOID_LAYOVER_CITY "LAS" subtracts weight from any line touching Vegas). Top-scoring line wins; lowest lineNumber tiebreaks.

What if no line satisfies all hard rules?

Fallback: the algorithm picks the line with the fewest hard-rule violations. Pilot is informed which rules they had to break. The reserve pool catches anyone without an awardable line.

Can I run awards multiple times without changing past awards?

Yes — the awards algorithm is a pure function. Same input always produces the same output. Re-running awards is safe; it replaces the prior award set with the recomputed one.

How does FA bidding integrate?

FA bidding runs parallel to pilot bidding with the same LINE / PBS infrastructure. crewType on the bidPackage discriminates pilot vs FA packages.

Who uses this

Other features

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Launching Q1 2027 — join the waitlist for early access.