Run a bid year, end to end

For Facility Administrators. This page presents the complete sequence in order. Each step is a summary with a link to the page covering it in depth.

Access required. Most of this sequence requires Facility Administrator access. Area representatives can build and manage their own area's rosters, lines, and leave, and can enter bids during a round, but cannot open, pause, close, or reset a round. Confirm a facility administrator is available on bid day.

Before you start

Requirement	How to obtain it
The bid year created	NATCA ITC creates the bid year record. Setup will not proceed without it. Email [email protected] with your facility and the year.
Facility Administrator access	Roles are assigned by ITC; there is no self-service option. Request access in advance rather than on bid day.
Time to rebuild	The prior year's setup is not copied forward. Rosters and lines are built fresh each year. Allocate time accordingly.

Sequence overview: setup → verify data → build rosters → build lines → build leave → rehearse → go live → line round → leave rounds → reports. Steps 1–5 are preparatory and can occur over several weeks. Steps 7–9 constitute the live bid.

Step 1 — Set up the year

In Bid Year Management, select the target year and run Setup / Refresh. Use the dry run option first to preview the outcome.

Setup imports areas, employee types, and members from MyNATCA, and creates the following for each active area:

a default roster with a Default team, with members added in order
the line round (round 0) and round one
a starting line group

Safe to re-run at any time. Setup is additive and does not delete existing data. If members are later found to be missing, re-running setup is the correct resolution.

Test mode is on by default. Setup creates the facility configuration with test mode enabled, so no member receives an email or text until it is deliberately disabled in Step 7. This is intentional.

Step 2 — Verify imported data

Before building further, confirm the imported data is correct.

Areas — all present, in the intended display order.
Members — if a member is missing from an area, run Sync BUEs or Refresh Area Assignments for that area.
Employee types — CPC and TRAINEE are created automatically; previously configured custom types are preserved.
Crews — fully manageable per area (create, rename, reorder, delete, or turn off). A new area starts with the standard seven; a returning area carries its prior-year crews forward automatically.

Academy graduates require separate handling. A new hire's official record takes approximately 10 days to sync after their first pay period closes. Use Add TEMP BUE to include them in the bid before then.

Add them before bidding starts, where possible. When the real record arrives, the temporary record is removed, and any bids placed on it are not transferred. Promotion is not yet automatic.