I suspect five years is somewhat pessimistic notwithstanding the announcements of downsizing of airlines.

The recovery process will really commence once a vaccine becomes available, which provided there are no hiccups, should be by the end of 2020. The Oxford teams work looks promising.

Confidence will be a key aspect to getting people flying again. A much clearer picture will emerge in 12 months time as to when normality or something close to it will occur. In the meantime 2023.

I have nothing to say but just one thing - we will see how it will turn up.

By the way, what this pandemic solved really quickly are two things - pilot shortage and overcrowded aircraft factories. Once MAX got grounded, you had to wait for your newly placed A320 order to be delivered for a decade. I suspect this term has diminished now.

Anyone who attended this June assessments? Any impressions, especially regarding the second day (interview)? Thank you!

Cadet program
 

Hi guys,

Ive applied for the wizz air cadet program about 2 weeks ago, but I haven’t had a response from them since. Does anyone know why, do you think I need to wait longer. I’ve checked my eligibility and I’m fine.(do you think they’ve stopped recruiting due to COVID but still even if they did why haven’t they removed the application from their website)
thanks

2 months ago they made redundant over 250 of their pilots - experienced, type rated, familiar with their SOPs etc. Do you really believe they may be looking for some fresh cadets now?

Yes I agree but why are applications still open then, shouldn’t they off took them off. And also, they have starting dates that they have stated on their website.

They have better things to do than updating their website. Or the person in charge has been made redundant.
Either way, don't hold your breath.

excuse me, “they have better things to do”, what else do they do?. They are the recruitment team they are in charge of this part of the company. And it’s extremely important to inform the public for this matter as people who have applied are waiting for a response, this is a persons future. I think it’s more than that.

I am not sure you realize how an airline works. It's ok, we have all been there. People in the office have been fired, together with cabin and flight deck crews, for a total of about 1000 people. And you will be surprised to know that the people working in the recruitment have also other roles in the company, notably in the training and flight ops department.
Trainers for example are swamped, working hard trying to prevent people falling out of recency. They have an whole organizazion to start up again in an environment that has never been more volatile and chaotic, with unprecedented challenges.
Forgive the expression, but trust me when I say that nobody in the company gives a flying damn about your dreams and the future of people like you or me, especially in a time of crisis like this.
People with 15 years in the company have been fired with a 3 lines email and you expect them to care about some random applicant?

thank you for you good explanation

The tsunami has hit. People are manning the lifeboats. The distress call has been put out.
They are no longer rearranging the deckchairs. The ‘public’ know what has happened.
There is no need for a further response.

Give a thought to others, and not just yourself. You don’t give the impression of being a team player?

Give it some time, gentlemen. The most likely option is that the programme will carry on at some point, not to the least because any potential graduations from a new intake are a few years away and the landscape will likely look far better by then. But, on a serious note, I don't think that any assessments will take place until at least Q4 2020. As some colleagues mentioned earlier, the company has a lot to deal with now and, either way, recruitment is no pressing issue for the next months. What I would add to this is that the flight schools have a lot on their plate as well. Imagine the backlog that has been accumulated since March. Many people need refresher training and proficiency checking, many courses which have already been booked and paid for are months behind schedule. Any partners of the school are in a similar predicament - e.g. maintenance organisations also have a backlog on aircraft checks, meaning that an aircraft might become unavailable until such time that its maintenance is sorted. So, do not expect much news for another couple of months, I think.

PilotLZ;

Thank you for your kind and very clear response

PilotLZ

You are quite optimistic.
I am working in one of more-or-less surviving company (70-80 FH per pilot last two months) and all our training resources are full until end of this year just for recurrent training.
Our chief said about 2022 for new zero FH pilots.

So?
 

In this case it would be a smart move to start training on your own now to be ready as a fresh cadet in 2022? Am I right?

The trouble is, even two weeks is a pretty long planning period under the current instability, let alone two years. You can certainly start soon (especially if you manage to get a good deal on your PPL and hour building due to the likely reduced demand for flight training). Do the PPL, try to space out the hour building in a way that won't leave you without any flying for months on end (because you will get rusty quickly). Do the night rating, start studying for the ATPL exams. And when there is more certainty about your job prospects you can plan and do the expensive stuff - IR, MEP IR, CPL, MCC, JOC, UPRT. This way, you can get yourself within a couple of months from the finish line by spending not more than half of the total cost of a fATPL. And the modules which are actually important for airline recruiters will have nice and fresh finish dates.

T0mF4rr3ll

I am applying from UK too literally in the same scenario - find me on insta cause I need to talk to someone in the same scenario might even be a case of sharing accommodation - my insta is J4mes_Bl4nd with you wanna connect

The application process is unfortunately closed. It's quite likely that the program will become self-sponsored or only students from Poland, Hungary and Romania will get the financing as it used to be some time before

More likely the former. Funding of ab-initio training makes financial sense to an airline in times of high demand and disproportionately low supply of qualified pilots. Funding broadens the pool of potential candidates with people who have the right skills and attitude but lack the financial means. Unfortunately, right now the demand for ab-initio trainees is almost inexistent and will stay there for as long as there are thousands of A320-rated and experienced pilots fighting for every opening out there. And, for the small fraction of ab-initio trainees who might still be put through the programme, there is a sufficiently large pool of candidates who have the right skills and attitude AND access to funding.

Cynical? Certainly. But you'd better accept how the real world works and look for your path with all this in mind.

Transfer
 

Hello! Does anyone know if (in case of reopening the assessments) it could be possible to switch flight schools between Egnatia (Greece) and Trener (Hungary)? Thank you in advance!