In some instances, how your bid looks, how bid groups are ordered, validated, and processed varies on what type of Reserve module you have. Refer to the Reserve Types article for further information on how to tell what type of reserve you have.
This guide describes how to use the NAVBLUE PBS interface to view bidding information, available pairings, create and submit bids, and how to view your awards. It also provides information on the bid preferences available to you. The last section describes the processing logic behind N-PBS (the N-PBS Scheduling engine) that processes your bids and awards pairings.
The N-PBS interface allows you to customize your schedule according to your individual likes and dislikes. The N-PBS interface and Scheduler form a Preferential Bidding System (N-PBS) that builds individualized crew schedules based on each crewmember's preferences, including both likes and dislikes for flying, specific pairings, and days off.
The bids that you submit using the NPBS interface are submitted to the N-PBS Scheduler. Your bids and the rules, pairings, and other parameters in the N-PBS Scheduler added by your administrator are used to automatically build your flying schedule for the bid period referred to as a block.
The N-PBS Scheduler considers each crewmember's seniority and bid when building schedules and ensures that the final schedule of time meets as many crewmember preferences as possible, while also meeting legal requirements and the airline’s targets for crew utilization and open time. Schedules are constructed strictly according to the seniority of each bidder, with the most senior bidder’s block created first, and the most junior bidder’s block created last.
Along with your awarded pairings, the N-PBS Bidder provides a Reasons Report that identifies whether or not each bid preference was fulfilled, and also provides detailed explanations for awards and denials.