OUR AIRLINE SOLUTIONS
structure, we can find innovative solutions very quickly with minimal cost
Solutions
Analysis
Communications
Crewing Solutions
OUR EMPLOYEE SOLUTIONS
busy work life, freeing their valuable time for important activities with their friends and family
Planning

Expenses

Friendly

and Friends

More recently, I have found discovered a lot more use from the Crewsware site than in years past. As a junior guy, I haven't held high expectations as to how my block has been built. Previously, just having a block was all I needed to be happy. Then as I crawled up the list a little on the 320, I have discovered some great tools within Crewsware.
Firstly, since day one on crewsware, the Expense and Pay Tracker has been the most useful tool, always finding me much more unpaid expenses than the cost of the service. It is easy to use, well laid out and can be submitted with nothing more than printing, having the identical layout of the company form!
More recently I have been using the pairing tools to try to build something appealing in a block. I used to find it daunting looking through the pairing reports on PBS. To the point that I would not bother with the hassle. Then I discovered the Award Builder and associated filters on Crewsware. As previously stated, my expectations were not high in a block, and I am always working a 16 day month. So I decided to try to make those 16 days' work for me. I started filtering the pairings into layover lengths in cities I wanted to spend time in, whether for the appeal of city or the fact that I could catch up with friends there. Then I could further filter the pairings looking at where I did/didn't want to go on that pairing before or after those longer layovers. In the last year I have spent more days 'working', waterskiing at a friends cottage near Calgary, than i did locally on days off. I see friends more 'working' than I do off and most live all across the country. I was bidding pairings in cities that I could rent mountain bikes while training for a big mountain biking holiday last fall and sometimes these spots were found on the 'my layover' section of the site with comments from other users.
Now once on those pairings, the pairing brief is far superior to the report link version and having all the van pickup times, layover amenities, inclusions, discounts, weather etc in your pocket is great.
Recently though I was released from my position freeze, and while still pay frozen, I had the ability to move equipment. I have wanted to do overseas since being hired but really hoped if I had to do it as an RP, I could do it while on flat salary. The Position Planner has been integral to this end and I am now making the move to the 777 based on the information obtained from Crewsware. Being able to see the difference between the Air Canada pay rates and what guys/girls are actually bringing home based on actual pay summaries was very valuable to me to justify choosing the 777 over the 787 and also justifying the move from the 320FO to 777RP. I am looking forward to looking at the pairings that my seniority can hold and exploring the world literally in this new position. It is also great to take a look at what I might be able to hold in the future and where I would potentially sit on that equipment.
The list is long Dave and your site is well thought out, laid out and informative. From the tools listed, to others such as logbook, calendars, which my wife loves, I get great use out of it and am happy to pass on my experiences with it.
P.S. I have to add this final comment in. I had written this email but not sent it yet and this morning found another beauty in the crewsware arsenal. Last night I operated the red eye back from YEG and realized when I got the plane that I had left my laptop at the hotel. Naturally this happened on my last pairing on the 320 and I will not be heading back any time soon to be able to pick it up. A call to the hotel confirmed they had found it and would hold it. As soon as I got back to YYZ, I logged into crewsware and pulled up the 'who's in town' list for YEG, found a YYZ crew member I knew, a quick email has been sent, and my laptop will be enroute to me in 24 hours! Thanks again!
ABOUT CREWSWARE
Crewsware is a dynamic, innovative and data analysis scheduling software company. Our main objective is to make the lives of our customers easier through user friendly software, encompassing numerous tools, resources, and visually engaging easy to read displays.
Initially our primary focus was airline scheduling software. We concentrated on creating easy to read family oriented schedule displays that would provide the most amount of information in the friendliest format.
Over time we found that our customers appreciated our thirst for improvement and expansion. Gradually we have added tools and resources to our web site that allows our customers to control various aspects of their busy work life.
Our team of programmers have created tools which include pay and expense tracking, a totally automated government compliant log book, both DC and DB pension estimators, a position planner
which allows the customers to plot various scenarios for career projection, plus bidding and award tools which simplify the monthly process, just to name a few. We have also added many resources for our customers, currency conversion tables, weather forecasts, hotel information, layover tips and many others. Our thirst for expansion and improvement is unlimited.
In addition to the subscription service we have become known for, we have also expanded our knowledge base to include operational and historical utilization analysis in the airline world. Our company has worked with many North American airlines and airline unions to help them resolve their individual needs, including pension projection and pay auditing. From determining cost efficiencies to creating custom software, we have helped our clients realise their full potential.
Of course like any forward thinking company, we won’t be stopping there. Stay tuned...
