Stand by for a slot and accept an offer
Join standby on a booking, set standing preferences or an open window, and accept a time-limited offer when a matching slot opens. The desk can offer canceled slots and withdraw pending holds.
For students, renters, instructors, owners, admins and dispatchers
Stand by for a booking you want, or set standing preferences for the kinds of slots you want. When a matching time opens, AerScheduler sends you a time-limited offer to accept. It does not rebook you silently.
Three ways to ask for a slot#
| Kind | Where you set it | What it matches |
|---|---|---|
| One booking | Open that reservation and press Stand by for this booking | Only that booking, if it cancels |
| Standing preference | WebYou → Profile → Standby, or Settings → Standby on iOS | Days, types, hours, aircraft, and instructors you choose |
| Open window | Same Standby screen | One date range you are free |
Leave a standing field blank to mean any. Pick at least one constraint before you save.
Owners and admins can turn the whole feature off under WebSettings → Booking preferences → Offer open slots after a cancel. It is on by default. When it is off, cancel recovery does not send offers and the Standby / Slot offers screens are hidden.
If your school requires a checkout before you book an aircraft, the Standby aircraft list shows only the fleet you are checked out on, the same rule as booking. Assigned instructors sort first; you can still prefer any instructor on the school roster.
Accept or decline an offer#
When a matching slot opens, you get an offer with a hold deadline.
Open your offers
On the web, go to WebYou → Schedule → Slot offers. On iOS, open Slot offers from the notification or from your schedule flow.
Accept or Decline
Accept creates the reservation on your schedule. Decline (or letting the hold expire) can roll the offer to the next eligible member.
Turn on Slot offers & standby under notification settings (email and/or push). Offers expire quickly, and with both channels off you will only see them if you open the list yourself.
What the front desk does#
On WebCalendar, staff can:
- See who is standing by on a reservation
- Press Offer this slot on a canceled booking to start or resume recovery
- Open Pending offers to withdraw an offer that should not stay held
Withdrawing a pending recovery offer moves the chain to the next eligible member.
Who actually gets offered#
Eligibility still applies. A renter standing by on a dual booking will not receive that dual offer. Role, checkout approvals, grounding, and schedule clashes all filter the list before ranking.
For dual, ground, and instructor lessons, cancel recovery first asks the instructor on that booking to confirm they can still teach. Only after they confirm does a claim offer go to a student or other watcher. Desk-created offers skip that step. If the instructor declines or the confirm expires, students are not offered that window.
Offers are not sent when the slot starts too soon (under 30 minutes by default) or when there would not be enough time left to respond before it starts. The hold never runs past the slot start.
Standing preferences and open windows rank behind a member who stood by on that exact reservation, so a specific watcher still goes first.
Related#
Common questions
- Does AerScheduler rebook me automatically when a slot opens?
- No. You get a time-limited offer to accept. Decline or expiry can move the offer to the next eligible member.
- Where do I set days and types I want, not just one booking?
- On the web, open You → Profile → Standby. On iOS, open Settings → Standby. You can also reach it from Schedule → Slot offers → Manage standby. If your school requires checkouts, the aircraft list is limited to what you are approved on.
- Why did I not get an offer for a dual I was standing by for?
- Eligibility still applies. Your roles, checkouts, grounding, and schedule clashes filter candidates. On duals the instructor must confirm first. A renter-only account will not receive a dual offer. Slots that start in under 30 minutes are not offered by default.
Still stuck on this?
Email support@aerscheduler.com and tell us what you were trying to do. We answer.