Pilots and vacation?

B767

B767

Well-Known Member
As everyone knows the QOL of a pilot can be pretty difficult. I've read stories of pilots missing anniverseries, weddings, birthdays, the like. My question is...birthdays and anniverseries are dates set in stone...and weddings are planned months upon months in advance (at least the 4-5 that I've been to) so why can't pilots just take a few days of vacation on and around those dates? I know I'm probably missing something and it's a lot easier typed by me then it actually is. So please elaborate on the difficulties of asking for vacation around your child's birthday or your anniversery.

P.S. I'm pretty sure I'm ignoring the seniority gig...which i could see making it a little more difficult.
 
If your low in the food chain then you have a bunch of pilots that will get to pick before you do. When it's your turn to pick you can pick whatever you want. I believe you can trade dates and etc with your fellow pilots but I'm not sure.


(Am I right?)
 
Maybe I'm being naïve, but if your anniversery is April 17, how many other pilots will also be looking for vacation around the 16, 17, and 18?

P.S. Just trying to add posts and topics. Apparently I've been around here for two years this month and only have 51 posts. Pretty lame :(
 
Not everyone might want that specific date, but vacation bids are generally done by weeks, so there might be 4 FO and 4 CA slots for that specific week, and murphy's law will say that 4 guys senior to you will bid that week. Once that month rolls around it might be possible to trip trade your days (or call in sick/take a personal day) but that is hit or miss and not easy to plan in advance. The flip side of all that is that you bid on vacation (well, where I am anyways) in January. It is sort of hard to know when to take, except for the guys who have kids and plan around their school schedule.
 
B767 said:
As everyone knows the QOL of a pilot can be pretty difficult. I've read stories of pilots missing anniverseries, weddings, birthdays, the like.
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Best thing is to get over this early in your career. Many professions are 24/7 365 days a year. If it really tears you up to miss these "important" dates, not a good career choice. If you don't make the wedding, send a gift, a cheap gift.
 
Well, so far, I've been spoiled. I was home for Thanksgiving and Christmas (paid for standby also), the wife's B-day and New Years I had off, and going on the vacation I wanted this week. We'll see how it goes when I upgrade, and when I move on from here;)

TX
 
It's not that easy to just 'take a vacation day'. It can be done, but it's often based on staffing levels.

Vacations are bid by the week, so you bid, sometimes a year or more in advance, for the weeks you want. If you want Christmas week, or any week in June, July or August, you'd better be pretty senior.

We do vacation in October and our anniversary is in March. Pretty easy vacation weeks to get :)
 
MQAAord said:
It's not that easy to just 'take a vacation day'. It can be done, but it's often based on staffing levels.

Vacations are bid by the week, so you bid, sometimes a year or more in advance, for the weeks you want. If you want Christmas week, or any week in June, July or August, you'd better be pretty senior.

We do vacation in October and our anniversary is in March. Pretty easy vacation weeks to get :)
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This is pretty much what we do at XJT as well. I have two weeks of vacation to bid a year. I can either bid them as two weeks together or split them up into 2 one week segments which is what most people do. The good thing about our system is that any trip that "touches" a vacation day on your schedule falls off your schedule. In other words you can strategically bid so that a 7 day vacation easily turns into 15,16, or more consecutive days off all while pay protected for a minimum of 75 hours. We also can trade vacation with other pilots. I'm assuming some other airlines have this as well.

As far as b-days and most holidays, I generally bid for those times off as part of my monthly schedule. I'm lucky in that I'm senior enough to hold all holidays off if I want them. In order to do so I generally have to give something up like # of days off. We usually bid my vacation around my wife's vacation so we can travel. Remember that travelling on vacation is a priority, bidding vacation around the rest of world's holidays (i.e. Christmas and New Years) may not be your best option since these are peak travel times.
 
You can also trip trade or trade reserve days. I just got home from a wedding in Chicago and I'll be working 6 on 1 off for the next 3 weeks, but that's because I traded reserve days to make it to my friend's wedding.
 
B767 said:
Maybe I'm being naïve, but if your anniversery is April 17, how many other pilots will also be looking for vacation around the 16, 17, and 18?

P.S. Just trying to add posts and topics. Apparently I've been around here for two years this month and only have 51 posts. Pretty lame :(
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Maybe I should keep my mouth shut, as I am being overly hypocritical, but it is not how many posts you have, it's the content of your posts and how it contributes to the forums.
 
txpilot said:
"Posts: 6,098" under BCTav8r


:( :banghead: :sitaware: :sarcasm: :confused:
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I think the one who needs :sitaware: is you.



Maybe I should keep my mouth shut, as I am being overly hypocritical, but it is not how many posts you have, it's the content of your posts and how it contributes to the forums.


I do recognize that I am guilty as well. What I said is still true though.
 
Easy there, big guy. I was just teasing you, as it's kinda like the pot calling the kettle black. Who has posted more irrelevance...the guy who, over 2 years, posts 51 times, or the guy who has posted almost 10 times since I posted this, with well over 6100 posts???

I will say you have come a long way since I started visiting here...the growth in your knowledge is awesome, but don't pick on others who don't post much and ask legitimate questions, is all I'm saying.
 
My bad TXpilot. I was in no way picking on him. He just said he felt bad that over two years he only accumulated 51 posts and I was just clarifying how it is better to post less but better posts than too much sh*t. Which my case is the later.:)
 
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