One of the disadvantages of being an airline pilot is that weekends do not exist. When ground staff apply for leave from Monday to Friday (this probably applies to you now), they will get from 5pm on the previous Friday to 9 am on the following Monday, i.e. 9 days off. As a pilot, you will get from 00:01 on the Monday to 23:59 on the Friday - and you may well be flying right up to the minute your leave starts and from the minute it finishes. You'll also find that the airline doesn't stop for Bank and Public Holidays, so you will be working over those. Hence, flight deck leave and scheduled time off appears generous. Add up all those weekends and public holidays and it doesn't look so good!
Scroggs