7/13/2026
PBS Notepad 26-01
DALITUpdate
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A Publication of the Delta Master Executive Council
July 13, 2026
26-01
Changes to PBS
TLDR
PBS will now be accessed via Delta’s Single Sign-On (SSO) using your Deltanet username and password. While this update of PBS offers a variety of new features, all of them are entirely optional. Pilots can continue to bid just as they do today. The only universal change is the login process.
Introduction
The purpose of this Notepad is to discuss the most recent enhancements and bug fixes for the PBS interface, which will be available with version 25.7 on 25 July 2026 for the September 2026 bid period. This version of PBS implements Single Sign-On (SSO), Total Pay enhancement, Reserve enhancements, Short Call bidding, and fixes some long-standing bugs.
Reminder: You should clear your browser cache before using the WebApp. While the WebApp auto-clears the browser cache, the PBS committee has found that this often doesn’t resolve all issues that manually clearing the cache fixes. Instructions for clearing your browser cache can be found in the PBS Reference Handbook starting on page 18. The PBS Reference Handbook can be found on your EFB or by clicking this hyperlink: 

https://dal.alpa.org/Portals/1/Documents/committees/pbs/other/PBS-Reference-Handbook.pdf  

New Features
 
Single Sign-On / Multi-Factor Authentication (SSO/MFA)
In order to accommodate the contractually required SSO functionality, provisions for MFA were also required to be incorporated.  The new login procedure was thoroughly tested and was found to not be an impediment to the basic functioning of the PBS bidding system; however, there are other implications, as discussed below. As a reminder, MFA requires an additional step for the log in process, typically a text or email sent with a validation code to your phone or EFB.

For the best experience, pilots should log in to Deltanet/Flight Ops, then click on the PBS Web App tile. If you currently use a saved/favorite link, that link will no longer take you to PBS.  You will need to replace that saved/favorite link with:  
 
If navigating to PBS from outside Deltanet, the Deltanet login page will appear and pilots can login with their Deltanet credentials. Once SSO/MFA login is complete, the “Synchronization” screen will appear as it previously did. As with other Deltanet sites, the Deltanet login screen may not appear if a user’s device and browser are recognized as already logged in.

Note: A pilot’s unique username/password for PBS is no longer valid and all PBS logins must use Deltanet SSO. The PBS Committee will be unable to reset a pilot’s Deltanet password.
With the introduction of SSO, there are two changes to PBS access:
  • Third-party bid assistance vendors will no longer have access to your PBS account.
  • Pilots will no longer be able to log in to PBS while offline.  The transition to SSO has “broken” that feature. The capability of off-line bidding is a part of the software specification, which is a requirement of MOU 1 - PBS. This discrepancy renders the software non-compliant with the PWA, and discussions are ongoing for a resolution.
Pay Data Added to Pairings
The ability to view, filter, and bid for Total Pay is now available in PBS. When a pilot clicks a pairing to view the expanded rotation information, they can now view the breakdown of each pay/no credit item, as well as the total pay for the rotation.
pbs1_3314951.png
pbs2_3314954.png

The Pairing Filter also includes three new options for sorting pairings with respect to total pay. While the “Total Pay” filter is self-explanatory, the “Total Pay vs Total Credit” and “Total Credit vs Total Pay” filters allow pilots to set a ratio of pay vs. credit and vice versa to determine the pay efficiency of the pairings in their bid packages. As with any other filter preference, these can be combined with other filters to further narrow down a pilot’s search.

The same three pay options are also located in the bid editor and can be incorporated into a pilot’s Pairing Bid Group with either an Award or Avoid bid line.

pbs3_3314956.png
Note: Only the credit portion of a pairing, as well as the value of any pre-posted absences, count toward the Line Construction Window in PBS.
Award Reserve Day On
Pilots now have the ability to enter “Award Reserve Day On” in their Reserve Bid Groups. With this new award function, reserve bidders can specify dates that they want to be on Reserve, in contrast to the current practice of only bidding Prefer Off. It is important to note that pilots are not required to change their current bidding practices in favor of using “Award Reserve Day On.” Bidders can continue bidding Prefer Off to award X days, and the remaining dates default to Reserve. 

One key feature of “Award Reserve Day On” is that PBS prioritizes the dates on a single line from left to right automatically.  In the following example, PBS would prioritize awarding a reserve day on the 16th, then 17th, then 18th in that order:
pbs4_3314980.png
“Award Reserve Day On” can be used in conjunction with other bid preferences like Prefer Off and Set Condition, and consistent with normal PBS bid logic, the system will prioritize each line of the bid from top-down.
Short Call Bidding
 
PWA Section 23.D.2.g allows pilots to bid for available Short Call periods in PBS. Short Call periods are purely voluntary in PBS: they will not be awarded unless you bid for them. The following figure shows the visual layout of how pilots can view short calls in PBS. Short Call information will be displayed under a new tab labeled “Short Calls.” Each short call period can be viewed, filtered, and added to your Current bid in a similar manner to the Pairings tab. Note the following information for each short call period:
pbs5_3314983.png
pbs6_3314985.png
Short Call Filtering Options

Pilots will be able to filter Short Calls in the Short Call tab, or Award Short Calls in the Bids tab using the following preferences:
Once again, “Identifier” simply refers to a unique SC period. “FRMS” allows pilots to filter whether the SC period is an FRMS short call (applicable to categories with FRMS operations).  Pilots will likely find the “Start” filter to be the most useful, as it allows filtering based on date, day of the week, date range, or time of the day that a Short Call begins.
pbs8_3314992.png
Short Call Bids

Pilots may bid for short call periods in their Reserve Bid Groups using the same filtering options available in the Short Calls tab.
pbs9_3314998.png
Short Call Award Logic

The system for awarding short calls has been designed such that PBS will first process a pilot’s Prefer Off, Set Condition, and Award Reserve Day On preferences in order to determine a Reserve pilot’s reserve on-call days and X days, then will award short call periods that match the TDA of the pilot’s reserve days. For this reason, the system automatically forces any “Award Short Call” lines below all Prefer Off, Set Condition, and Award Reserve Day On lines.  For example, let’s look at the following Reserve Bid Group:
pbs10_3315000.png
In the above bid group, PBS will determine the pilot’s X-days and reserve on-call days with lines 2 and 3 of the bid group.  Once this has been determined, PBS can then attempt to award short call periods from lines 4-6 if they are available at the pilot’s seniority and match the TDA of the pilot’s reserve line.  Now, let’s look at an example of what not to do:
pbs12_3315003.png
Since this bid group has no Prefer Off or Award Reserve Day On bid lines, PBS will construct any legal reserve bid group and will only award the desired short calls if they happen to match the resulting reserve line.  PBS will not construct a pilot’s reserve line to simply match a requested short call period.  The key takeaway here is that pilots still need to use Prefer Off, Set Condition, and/or Award Reserve Day On to build their reserve line, then request short call periods at the end of their reserve bid group. 
 
Note: While PBS is designed to force “Award Short Call” lines below Prefer Off, Award Reserve Day On, and Set Condition lines, the PBS Committee discovered during testing that pilots may be able to enter Award Short Call lines above such lines if they are added from the Short Calls tab. This defect should be resolved in an upcoming release.  
 
Bottom line: Pilots should ensure that all “Award Short Call” lines are at the bottom of their Reserve Bid Groups. 
Targeted Days of Availability – TDA  

In order for PBS to award a short call, the pilot’s remaining reserve days in a given block of reserve must match the TDA of the short call period, with one notable exception: if the TDA for a short call equals the “Max TDA” for that category, the remaining reserve days in the block of reserve can be equal to or greater than the TDA for that short call period. The “Max TDA” for widebody categories (including 7ER) is 5, and the “Max TDA” for narrowbody categories is 4. Let’s look at an example for an ATL 320 A reserve line:
pbs13_3315008.png
Since the Max TDA for this category is 4, this pilot could be awarded a SC period with a TDA of 4 on the 5th, 6th, 7th, or 8th of this month. The remaining reserve days can be equal to or greater than the Max TDA. On the other hand, SC periods with a TDA of 3 could only be awarded on the 9th, 14th, or 19th, since the remaining reserve days must equal the TDA.
Other Restrictions

PBS will not award a short call period:
  • Unless a pilot specifically bids for them. 
  • In excess of the PWA 23.S.2.c tables (maximum of 6 short calls).
  • In a pilot’s shadow period.
  • In an Ultra Long Call (ULC) Reserve line.
  • If it is an FRMS short call period and is within 25 hours of any scheduled activity (such as short call, training, or a carry-in trip). PBS can award an FRMS short call following 25 hours of long call reserve.
AutoSave Feature
 
Another enhancement to the latest PBS version is the elimination of the manual Save button, which has been replaced with an AutoSave feature. Whenever a pilot performs a critical action that changes any part of their bid, PBS will save the changes in their device/browser. This includes any of the following actions:
  • Clicking the "Apply" button after creating or editing a new bid line. 
  • Reordering your existing bid lines or bid groups. 
  • Deleting a bid line or bid group. 
  • Using the Copy/Cut and Paste options. 
  • Adding new bid lines from the Pairings, Training, or Short Call tabs.
If there is any interruption to a pilot’s bidding such as a loss of Wifi or the browsing window is closed, they can simply log back in to the same device/browser, and their progress will be saved from the last action performed. 
 
WARNING: AUTO-SAVE DOES NOT EQUAL A BID SUBMISSION. Bids must still be submitted
and a Confirmation number received to have your bids processed by PBS.
Bug Fixes

Calendar View
The Calendar Tab has been updated, along with the weeks displaying correctly. There was an issue where the calendar might only show five weeks. Depending on how the weeks fell month to month, the previous or next month’s activities could have been cut off. 
 
Pairings Filter
Most of the filtering issues on the pairing tab have been corrected. Some of the errors pilots might have seen are related to Layover Durations.

Duty on dates with “If” condition
An issue was identified where the Duty On dates filter does not completely show the results for the IF condition, particularly when filtering for "If" vs. "If not." While this release has corrected most of the filtering bugs, the PBS committee has identified instances where there are still errors. We encourage pilots to report filtering errors using a PBS Bid Inquiry.
 
Analyzer Results
Some pairings were being removed from the analyzer when they match the bid line, while others are shown with all their Pairing On Dates matching the bid line. This has been resolved. 
 
An issue where the Analyzer marks every departure of a pairing as filtered out by the “Avoid Pairings If Carryout > 0 Days” rule has been identified. This occurs when a pilot has a line with the “Avoid Pairings If Carryout > 0 Days” rule, and a subsequent Award includes a trip that operates throughout the entire month, with some departures being carryout and others not. In this case, the Analyzer marks all departures of the pairing as filtered out, even though only a few should be.
 
Applying Filter on Training Screen
An issue has been resolved where selecting a filter, such as Event Period or Event Location, on the Training Screen, and clicking "Apply" causes the screen to freeze. Additionally, the system now properly processes the filter selections, and completes the loading without hanging.

 

If you have any questions or feedback, please submit a PBS Bid Inquiry via the link
on the Crew Resources/Scheduling page of DeltaNet.
This is a product of the Delta MEC PBS Committee.
 
 
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