Information Services Committee
Information services works to ensure that our needs are met when new computer technology is introduced either by the company or the Union.
Vice Chair John VanRisseghem jvanrissenhem@nwaafa.org
Information Services News
One of the functions of the MEC Information Services (IS) Committee is to keep up with what Northwest is doing with computers, both at home and on NWA property, to make our work lives easier. ATLAS is the best example of that. Our excellent IS Committee Vice Chair John VanRisseghem and I have had some great meetings with NW management and ALPA representatives in the past to get us all up to speed and on the same page for crew and Company.
Those meetings were terrific for the techies among us who are interested in details like exactly who NW is using for crew program vendors and what changes they're making, so we could have input into hardware/software issues that affect us. Unfortunately, since before TA3 was ratified, Northwest has ignored requests for meetings to resume. In fact, when Julie Showers recently announced the changeover from CENTRY intranet email to Outlook Web Exchange, it was the first we'd heard of it. She has since received our comments on that unilateral decision.
We do have some excellent contacts with crew software authors, though, and their programs are all cheap and very useful for commuters and FAs who like to adjust their schedules. I've compiled a list of available programs. If you have experience using any of these programs, or know of something equally useful not listed there, please email me at kellis@nwaafa.org. (A program's inclusion in this list does not signify endorsement by the MEC, and opinions expressed are my own.)
I recommend making your work life easier by trying one or more of these programs, and I hope that I'll soon have something to report on hardware and software issues with NWA's online presence for us. Meanwhile, safe skies and happy layovers to all of you!
Spotlight on Crew Bidding Services
Crew Control II (http://www.crewcontrol.com/)
Compatibility: Windows
Crew Control was one of the first third party programs written for crewmembers. Software author and A320 Captain Steve Baker gets it right.
- Download the bid packet with a single click.
- Book a jumpseat at the first available nanosecond (it syncs with the PARS clock) while you’re off doing something else. NonRev Center will check multiple days for booked pax loads, non-revenue wait lists for flights, and jumpseat bookings, all at one time. All you have to do then is pick the flight to list on and click on it.
- Great for checking all your pax loads for a trip and printing them out in one no-hassle click.
- You can be simultaneously in PARS, ACCESS, and CENTRY.
Cost: Free 30 day trial. Crew Control II is licensed on an annual basis. The initial annual registration cost is $48 (reduced by 20% if you are a registered Crew Control Millennium user). Subsequent yearly registrations are only $12, and include unlimited support and unlimited minor upgrades.
EZOpenBoard (http://www.ezopenboard.com)
Compatibility: Any computer with internet access
This is one fine program! A330 Captain Steve Swantz is doing an excellent job of making checking open time easy! You’re going to love it. Just input what you’re looking for (dates, layovers, a/c type), and viola! Instant gratification. A must for junior commuters, and handy for us senior folks who live in base, too. Another plus is that there’s no download necessary, so you save hard drive space. Captain Swantz has added some handy freebies for us, too, like hotel ratings you can add your personal comments to. Bookmark our open time display and you’re one click from seeing the entire open board for whatever kind of trip you’re looking for; one more click and you’ll see the pattern details. EZOpenBoard keeps track of the trips you’ve seen and highlights the new trips for you, and will even email you when new trips show up.
- Schedule Calculator: Put that pencil and paper down. Just click on the trips you want to drop and add, and the ‘Trip Monkey’ will calculate the value of your ‘what if’ schedule. Coming soon: 30/7 checks.
- Online Logbook: EZOpenBoard can download your schedule info from ACCESS, and keep it long after it disappears from ACCESS.
- Email Notifications: Let EZOpenBoard send an email to your computer or cellphone when “Atlas What’s Hot” changes or new trips show up.
- ‘Freemail’ Notifications: EZOpenBoard provides a number of free email notifications—bid info, deadlines and results, and more. They’re automatic for timely notification, and all have an easy ‘one-click’ unsubscribe so you’ll never have any problem cancelling them—even if you forget your password.
Perfect Patterns (http://www.bobpatch.8m.com/)
Compatibility: Both Macs and PCs
Perfect Patterns is written by NWA Captain Bob Patch and is a bid sort program. It allows you to quickly search through patterns to find those that meet your desires, print patterns, display pattern summaries on a calendar, and print a calendar.Cost: Free 3 month trial. After that, it’s $20 - all support and updates are free. No monthly subscription fee.
Bid Assistant 2 (http://www.stopoverstore.com) (http://www.ghale.com)
Compatibility: Windows 95 – XP Pro
Written by MEM pilot Greg Hale. I know a lot of crewmembers, both pilots and F/As, who use the program for bidding and printing out their bid awards. I have used the original version and liked it, but it has some bugs (like not adding carry out trip times to next month) that are supposedly fixed in this upgrade (which is not free). I have been unable to get Bid Assistant 2 to work on my laptop which runs Windows Vista Business (one of many variations of Vista). Capt. Hale has been unable to help, as he does not use any version of Vista. He has a Vista fix posted on his website which was supplied by another user, but it didn’t work for me. I do not recommend this program for Vista users, and it is not Mac compatible.
- Download the pattern analysis for a bid month from Atlas and search for specific patterns.
- Create different pattern scenarios for bidding.
- Display and print an award calendar.
- Edit your award calendar if patterns change during the month.
- Place reminders on the calendar for each month.
Cost:$25.90 from The Stopover Store; $25.00 for full version of BA2 if ordered directly from Capt. Hale; $15.00 for the upgrade only (requires you to have Version 1 on your computer).
Bid Buddy for Flight Attendants (http://www.softmica.com/)
Compatibility: WinXP or Vista
I haven’t tried Bid Buddy, but it sounds intriguing:
- Flight Calendar – contains your actual schedule and trip list for the month you select. Put any personal activities on the calendar, too. You can generate a HTML version of your calendar so you can e-mail it. Also will go into MS Outlook so you can send it to your Treo or PDA.
- Pattern Analysis Screen – basically another bid sort program, but this one allows you to bookmark and rank the patterns.
- Layover Analysis Screen – check your layovers by seeing them on an actual calendar. Also displays layover arrival time and length.
- Schedule Generator – will generate up to 999 combinations of trips in your Bookmarked list. Checks for legalities. You can also manually drag-and-drop trips on the schedule generator. Allows you to pick a trip you really want and then build other trip scenarios around just that favorite trip.
Jet Book (http://www.softmica.com/)
Compatibility: WinXP or Vista
Another program from softmica. I haven’t used it. It’s a jumpseat booker and tracker, and it allows a secondary user, so two crewmembers can use it.
Cost: Free 30-day trial. Registration is $50.00 for the first year and $25.00 per year thereafter