Optimization Explained

Optimization for Coverage

(JCBA Sections 8.D.6.d., 8.D.8. and 8.I.1.h.2.)

• When the number of open assignments is greater than the number of Reserves who are legal and available, the Company will designate those assignments that will be left uncovered. (In general, it will be those with the latest report times to allow as much time as possible to determine alternate coverage, if necessary.)

• If the number of open assignments of a given length is greater than the number of Reserves available in the corresponding day classification group, (ie. 40 two day assignments versus 20 legal and available two day Reserves) remaining assignments will be covered by Reserves available for a greater number of days. (Here again, it will generally be the assignments with the latest report times that are covered by Reserves in subsequent day-of-availability groups.)

• In this case, Reserve preferences will be considered for assignment to those Reserves having Reserve availability with a length outside of day classification. However, a preference may not be honored if there is a Reserve available whose number of days of availability more closely matches the assignment.

Making Optimization Work for You

Example of using optimization to your advantage:

(In this example, assume both Brian and Amy are coming from OFF days and are available at 0400.)

Brian is a two-day Reserve and sees 40 two-day assignments in Reserve Time to preference. With 20 two-day reserves on the availability list, he can expect the 20 later assignments to go to the next day group, while the 20 earliest assignments are available for him to preference.

Amy is a three-day Reserve. After researching, she sees there are 50 three-day assignments PLUS the 20 assignments that will be coming from the two-day group. With only 50 three-day Reserves in her day group and a total of 70 assignments, she knows they are in the negative. Out of all 70 assignments, ONLY the earliest 50 assignments will be considered for preference awards (which could include three-day AND two-day assignments left uncovered by the two-day Reserves). The remaining 20 later assignments will go to the multi-day group (4, 5, & 6 day) of Reserves.

Key Takeaway: By researching both her own day group AND the day groups before hers, Amy was able to see there would be additional pairings outside her day group that she could potentially preference. In this way, she was able to use optimization to her advantage in this case and potentially increase her options.

Remember: The Reserve Preferencing System works best when there is coverage. There may be times when the system will award an assignment to a Reserve out of order because:

• that may be the only assignment for which they are legal OR they may be the only Reserve legal for that assignment.

• there is an available Reserve whose number of days of availability more closely matches the assignment.

• honoring the preference would result in decreasing the number of covered assignments or result in earlier departures being uncovered.

Other Cases of Optimization

A Reserve may also receive an assignment out of TMAC order if:

• they are the only Reserve who is legal, qualified, and available for that assignment; or

• it is the only assignment for which the Reserve is legal, qualified, and available.

• they are in-motion (on a pairing) at the time the Reserve Preferencing system runs. In this case, the system may deny a preferencing request for an assignment if the check-in time is within 1 hour of the conclusion of the legal rest associated with the projected arrival of the Reserve.

Manual Assignments (System Failure)

As an additional reminder, in the event of a Reserve Preferencing system failure or a major disruption to the integrity of the operation, the company may process Reserve assignments manually with the following order:

1. Days available

2. TMAC

3. FIFO

4. Highest to lowest seniority, as a tiebreaker.

In this case, Reserve preferences will not be considered.

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