Disclaimer - I do not work at Luton, or for either Easyjet or Wizzair. This may not make for pleasant reading - but I hope being brutally honest will give people the information they need
Over the last 100+ years, the general experience has been that when a single company is the major source of economic activity in a geographical area, it has the capacity to dictate terms to both suppliers and customers, and it will usually exercise that capacity to a greater or lesser degree, paying suppliers just enough to get what it needs and selling its products at as high a price as possible. There will be lots of fluffy talk from management with words like "centre of excellence" and "Action Plan 2025" - these are rarely good things to hear if you work in a high cost location. Think (and be honest with yourself) as to what you would be doing if you were in the shoes of the big boss of EasyWizz and what you would do to somebody in your current role to maximise profits. When companies merge, investors push senior management hard to achieve synergies and rationalise operations - yes that means cutting costs and laying off staff wherever possible. This will not happen the day the merger legally takes effect - it will be over a 12 or 18 month period.... but you can be certain that rationalisation and finding synergies WILL happen
For those staff whose skills are difficult to source elsewhere, or for which there is a regulatory need, a future EasyWizz will continue to cough up. For other people (e.g. dispatchers or cabin crew), T&Cs for staff may worsen, those on rolling contracts will be unlikely to see any kind of pay rise - at least until inflation puts them on the same terms as new joiners, and those on well-paid permanent contracts will likely be given subtle signs (e.g. poor annual appraisal scores) to encourage them to look for employment elsewhere so they can be replaced with people on lower-paid contracts. Any significant career growth opportunities are likely to be in low-cost locations - think places like Hungary. Those working for EasyWizz's suppliers (e.g. handling staff) will likely experience the side effects of a new EasyWizz demanding the handling agent cut the prices it charges to EasyWizz. The only time pay will increase is if a future EasyWizz finds it is unable to source sufficient bodies to continue uninterrupted operations because too many people are resigning to take better-paid roles elsewhere
In any company, employees are a cost. Senior management at all companies see costs as being bad. Wizz is profitable because it is ruthless in keeping its costs to an absolute minimum.
If you work at Luton, be very clear as to how management of a combined EasyWizz will see you personally and the role you fulfil.... and have a plan of what to do next if you and the management of the merged company have different opinions of the importance of your role, or be prepared to take action post-merger in your own personal interests
Last edited by davidjohnson6; 13th Sep 2021 at 15:11.