On earlies, perfect. Less than 90 minutes from landing to being on the beach.
On lates, not so much.

Pearlharbour; look at the cost of living in most of the bases and what competitors are paying though. When working for an operator in one of the countries Wizz have a base, I earned about 2/3 of the salary Wizz are offering, but the quality of life was better than in the UK (especially London area) by far.

It's the same in Poland. Net salary about 30% less, cost of living just under half (including not needing a mortgage). Pay isn't everything, it's the quality of life that comes with it. For reference, I spend about 60% of my take home on an 'average' year, about half of that spending goes in mortgage payments.

im afraid you’ve been drinking too much of the Kool Aid .

I agree with FGE319, personally, my quality of life was better in Poland than where I am now. I was also happier. But to each their own.

It's a matter of fact that life in Eastern Europe is a lot cheaper than in Western Europe. For argument sake, the sum of money which can only get you a small room in a shared apartment in some remote area of London can get you an independent apartment in a nice area somewhere like Bucharest, Sofia or Tirana. You can also get comprehensive insurance for a powerful coupe or a hot hatch for the cost of insuring a Ford Fiesta further west. A decent meal outside comes at a significantly lower cost as well. Just as many other things. The salaries are scaled towards that and they still put pilots among the top 10% of the highest-earning professionals in their countries.

The second side of the story is where you want to live. Locals who want to live in their home city and sleep in their own bed every night often find WZZ not only the most stable and secure opportunity in their country, but also the only one or one of only two or three in their city (and that if said city is a capital, at many of the smaller cities WZZ are the only operator maintaining a permanent base there). And here it comes to evaluation of what you would like to get out of your job. Would you be happy spending weeks on end in hotel rooms for more money or would you rather live at home? How about your family, are they able and willing to relocate, should you find a better-paid opportunity elsewhere in the world? Do you have any dependents to look after, maybe old and infirm family members for whom relocation is just not an option? With all this in mind, everyone works it out for themselves.

Belgium is tough on the soul. Good luck.

I just work there and they have the best beer ever!;)

Interesting and unexpected update today as, alongside with Bacau, Saint Petersburg was announced as one of the new bases due to open in the autumn. That gives food for thoughts regarding contracts. As I simply can't see an EU airline providing local contracts in Russia, isn't that a signal that agency contracts will likely be the new normal?

That's what the 'Highly qualified specialist' visa is for. If no, there would be an issue with Russians being qualified under EASA (in that it's rare, not that it's impossible).

A quick Google states that that average €3200/month gross will be required for this. Captains that's fine, First Officers with flight pay, same situation.

That's a base that I doubt will be crewed by locals for the main, even if it is run under a local contract.

They're also basing 3 aircraft in Dortmund.

Wizzair offers local contracts in Ukraine, why would that be any different in Russia? I don’t see all this rush of the airlines to agency contracts, to be honest.

I am not exactly sure about jurisdiction in this case, but Russian legal entities are not allowed to hire foreign FOs.

https://www.consultant.ru/document/c...3890f1a4a26d3/

In Russia a pilot is required to hold a diploma from a state aviation academy in addition to a pilot licence. Exceptions are made only for expat Captains whenever and wherever operationally necessary. I don't think that this is also the case in Ukraine. To the best of my memories, an ICAO licence is considered sufficient qualification for flying commercially in Ukraine.

In terms of visas, Saint Petersburg is an exception from the general legislation, requiring travellers to apply for a visa with the local Russian embassy. There are electronic visas obtained online which only restrict your movement to the city of Saint Petersburg and its administrative unit. However, obtaining a multi-trip business visa for the entire country should not be a problem either.

In a Russian company, yes. Wizz isn't a Russian company, they're operating on Hungarian AOC flights between LED and EU destinations under the new rules that apply to LED only, and not any other Russian airport.

It's the first time I believe that an EU-reg AC will be based in Russia under a non-Russian AOC, so we must wait to see what happens.

What WIZZAIR made with their pilots from the start of the pandemic it has been a huge mistake that in medium to long term it will bring really serious consequences to de company.

First... practically no assistance on repatriation flights, some pilots were lucky to find the way within Wizzair´s network to return home. However other pilots without connections had to pay flight tickets from their pocket, hotels etc etc...

Second. We went from a very positive message from the CEO, "we have stronger cash reserves than our competitors, we will preserve all the jobs we just need you to reduce your salaries temporaly, take your holidays..."
one week later a new message 1000 redundances (265 pilots) in less than 24 hours, no notice period of 3 months, no remuneration, no guarantee to be rehired.... NOTHING!!

Third. They announce every week new bases, also that they are the only operator taking airplanes deliveries every month. Everyday they speak about very ambitious plans while they have lot of pilots recency expired, simulators fully booked and 1/4th of their manpower pre COVID. But the CEO insist that they are able to fly 100% of the fleet within the network with the existing pilots/cc. and can maintain 80% of their productivity with the current resources...
He ask for "flexibility" to their crews, moving people from their fix bases to non popular bases like Tirana and similar, random rosters, bad commuting or inexistent etc etc etc

Forth. After fired 265 pilots, they lunch a program CABIN CREW TO CAPTAIN IN JUST 3 YEARS!. Just an insult for all the really good Captains and First Officer that still employed by WIZZAIR and for the people fired.

A few days ago shareholders bonuses were paid. from 1.5 Millions of Pounds for the CEO and so...


So what is next?, I will tell you. Pilots will never forget what unfair, dirty and miserable treatment received during this crisis. There was not any reason to manage a company in such way. there was not transparency. But aviation is a double way street, and most of the people inside and outside the company are really really frustrated and upset without motivation at all. They think that they will have as many pilots as they want today, tomorrow or next year. They bet for that, ok is their company, time will say...

Training capacity and productivity are two good old friends. Having been involved with a rather minor role within airline recruitment in much less turbulent times than those, I kid you not that the lead time for any planned boost in capacity is in the order of months, not weeks. Even if there are enough qualified pilots out there who will put in enough applications within 24 hours of recruitment being announced. Things to factor in are lead time for assessment, possible notice period of the candidate to another employer, availability of sim slots and TRI/TRE for the conversion courses, availability of theoretical courses, possible security vetting of the candidate on part of the competent authorities, availability of line trainers, roster robustness and whatnot else. So, I don't know when the 80% productivity mark can plausibly be exceeded under the circumstances, but it certainly cannot be done overnight. Especially in a large company where 20% of the workforce translates into close to 1000 pilots and cabin crew.

Hi guys!

I would appreciate if anyone can solve a question about this company. I'm currently flying A330 (600h) as FO, and I had previously flown A320 (2500h), plus FI hours, so I don't qualify for fast track.

Does anyone know if you apply as a FO (+500 h), they take into account your previous flight towards the upgrade, or when you join through this offer you're the last one of the list?

Aviation in Asia looks quite awful right now, months without pay, and expecting pay cuts of 50% once they return salary, so considering if once hiring opens again, could be a good moment to transfer somewhere you can upgrade in the short or medium term.

Thanks guys. Cheers!

There isnt any list so as long as you perform in a company oriented way you should be safe. Regarding the hours yes they do factor your hours and with you experience it should only take about 1 year maybe for upgrade, thats how it was before corona, now the upgrades are postponed for a certain amount of time...

Speaking of recruitment, did anyone of our unfortunate colleagues who lost their jobs in April get called back? There have been news of additional aircraft being added to bases where retrenchment took place in April (notably Bucharest, Belgrade and Varna), apart from the brand new bases.

So far it's just reshuffling exiting crews along with aircraft. I heard of an individual being called back to wizz, but second-hand only so I don't know if it's true.

They are using the pilots they have within the network, moving them to other bases. I only heard about some ex Wizz for Abu Dhabi but very few people.
European bases they are managing moving people and airplanes to new bases in force on a random roster with no commuting home possibility at all.
Ex Wizz pilots still on “vacation” mode this summer at home 🏡