A Christmas Tale.
No matter with whom one flies, unless, perhaps, in a position of some seniority; you will never be able to get Chistmas off to the extent that you can acually plan for it. Even if you are rostered off on Christmas Eve but flying on that day; you may not get home, the same goes for New Year's eve day/eve.
A certain airline for which I once flew always cancelled all flights over Christmas and New Year. However; all pilots were rostered on Standby on the days when there were no flights. So, in reality, you were stuck in an alcohol free home zone for days on end. Some of us ended up with two weeks on standby!
At one point in my eclectic career, having achieved, by my own Herculean efforts, a position of great seniority and superiority; I managed to convince the company's pilots that married guys would have Christmas off whilst the unmarried guys flew, but that at New Year the opposite would apply. This actually worked quite well but only because someone had a vested interest in it doing so and kept a tight hand on the rein.
One can also loose a lot of public holiday days off by going on leave over a calendar period in which many such days fall.
Roster swaps are anathema to Crewing. It places extra work regarding duty and flight times on their plates. It is not something that is encouraged, all that extra thinking and juggling!
