Long-term schedule flexibility
 

So, this is probably a stupid question, but just out of curiosity, how flexible are airlines with respect to long-term scheduling? Just to clarify, I understand that during a bid period, more senior pilots generally have a greater likelihood of getting desirable schedules than more junior pilots, but what I really mean is, should you want to take some extended time off (say, 1-2 months hypothetically), could you theoretically not bid for any lines during that time? Would you still get paid for this time off if you were flying close to 900-1000 hours over the year anyway? As you have probably guessed by now, I am not a pilot :ugh:, so please forgive the naivety of this post.

Most likely if a pilot didn't bid for a schedule for any particular month, he'd be assigned one (the leftover garbage most likely) rather than just getting nothing. They hired you to fly and intend for you to do just that.

If a person wanted an extended time off (other than military LOA which is another animal), there's usually a contractual definition of how long it can be and under what circumstances...to be arranged per the contract process.

IIRC, our contract allowed 180 days unpaid leave. If you went longer than that, you started losing seniority numbers (sliding backward) for every month (or even part of a month maybe...can't remember).

This stuff varies with each airline and contract.

Some contracts allow dropping down to zero pay/zero credit while most require some minimum hours per month unless on sick. DL does, at least did, allow a zero bid month.

GF