In the "TN" days you could nominate one flight a year as your "Confirmed Annual Leave" trip (remember those staff-travel application forms, about the same size and shape as a cheque?).
The available "Confirmed Annual Leave" flights were controlled by Yield Management, sure they were lunch-time on Tuesdays flights and not 5.00pm on Fridays, but as long as you picked the right flights your annual leave trip was stress-free!
I really don't think that's asking too much!
ST