days until our Collective Agreement expires, we are preparing, we are united and we will make change.

Transition + 17-5

December marks the fourth month of the transition period from the “Old U.I.” to the New U.I. There are also a few other items to review:

  • Transition Period Extension
  • B737 + 77P Aircraft
  • OSX Support for Mac
  • Using PBS Off Line
  • 17-5 Now Installed, Clear your cache

Transition Period Extension:
During the transition period, we have been reviewing issues that have popped up with the New U.I. While almost all are corrected by clearing your browser’s cache and web data, there are some that require a modification to the software itself. One in particular affects Default bidding and the ability to modify dates from previous bid periods. Navblue has a fix to that issue which will be ready for the end of December. As always, we continue to work with Navblue on other items and improvements and have agreed to extend the current transition period by three (3) months. That means that both the Old U.I. and the New U.I. will be available up until March 2018. Therefore, as of April, (for the May block) the New U.I. will be the only interface available.
B737 + 77P Aircraft:
With the December block month, the B737 and 77P were added to the list of aircraft. You may use these aircraft as part of your bid line preferences.

OSX Support for Mac:
PBS Version 17-5 has now been installed. With the update comes support for the Macintosh running Mac OS 10 with the Safari browser.

Using PBS Off Line:
One of the advantages of the New U.I. is being able to use PBS off line (without internet access). To do this, however, you must follow some steps.

1. Ensure that you are connected to the internet with the device that you want to use PBS off line.
2. Open your browser (eg. Chrome) and in the address bar type the alternate access address for PBS:

3. The sign in page will be displayed.

  • Enter your employee number (ac###### or rg######), password (same as on the portal) and select your airline (aca or rga).
  • Click on Login

4. You must complete the synchronization process. This may be done automatically if you have selected Automate On Start Up on the Synchronization pop up.
Your browser has now been loaded with the necessary information for PBS to be used off line. You may log out of PBS and turn off your device.
When you want to use PBS off line (on the same device):
5. Open the same browser (eg. Chrome) on the same device that you synchronized PBS and in the address bar type the same alternate access address.
6. PBS will still show “Authenticating” and “Synchronizing” however no synchronization will be done as there is no internet connection.
7. You will be brought to the Info page and can search for pairings* and create or modify bids as you wish.
8. While off line you may not submit your bids, the Submit icon is not even displayed. Submitting your bids requires an internet connection. You may save your bids to the device that you are using by clicking on the Save icon.

9. Follow the same log in process as before however this time PBS will synchronize and display the info page.
To have your bids used by PBS for awarding you your block they must be submitted. To submit your bids, connect to the internet with the device that you have been using off line. Open your browser and, in the address bar, enter the appropriate alternate access address.
To submit your bids, you must go to the Bids tab and click on the Submit icon.
17-5 Now Installed, Clear your cache:
Whenever a new update is installed OR you are having difficulty with PBS synchronizing/loading you should clear your cache. This information was previously included in Bulletin 6 however it is worth repeating.
PC – Google Chrome:
PC – Microsoft Internet Explorer:
iPhone / iPad – Safari:
In Solidarity,
Component PBS Committee