Smartwings
Airone2977 Their native post-holder FLT OPS of the last 25 years became a bit of a public figure rather recently.
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: Praha
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A thread with quit a lot replies but absolutely nothing relevant to the first question.
The main pressing issue of Smartwings is its fleet. The company decided to really invest into new metal and unfortunately they placed 39 solid orders for 737 MAX, part by lessors and part directly. 7 of them got delivered before the grounding and are now catching dust at the end of defunct runway 22 at Prague. 9 MAXes are sitting in Renton on Boeing staff parking lot but were originally expected to be here before June 19. And 6 additional had delivery date between Oct and Dec this year. That is 21 bodies. More than 1/3 of total airline capacity is sorely missed and Smartwings is forced to storno 10% of its flights and replace the rest by renting anything that can keep itself in the air, even just by glue and prayer. (But sometimes we spotters get treated with fancy wet leases like brand new 350 of Ethiopian doing charter between Greek islands and Prague/Bratislava). Smartwings believes MAX will return to service before next summer season, but nobody even dares to thing what would happen if MAX grounding should conntinue past April 2020. That would be critical.
Smartwingsīs plans with ČSA are completely unclear. All ATR72s should go away after next summer, A319s got partly scraped and mostly used for wet leases (currently with Brussels). Second planned 330 was not based in Prague but in Poland instead. It still has 9 solid orders for A320s, but this got postponed several times and now Airbus offers to change them into 321XLRs and A220s, last meeting was 3 weeks ago but no idea what the future will bring.
In result, fleet plans in Smartwings change every few months. And nobody really knows what capacity will be available next summer. Under such conditions, every other airline would probably go the way of Thomas Cook (like mentioned in first post). However, the majority owner is pretty rich, SM is just small part of his group of companies and so has no problem to cover any cash shortage. As long as he personaly sees future for SM, this airline can continue to operate despite huge financial loss incurred due to MAX grounding.
And if we touch job possibilities for SM pilots. Only 3 airlines have bases in Czechia/Prague. SM, ČSA and Ryanair. Ryanair closes its base in Prague in October. ČSA have not hired for a few years. So any Czech ATPL pilot that doesnt want to work for Smartwings can either look for very sparse biz jet jobs, or has to emigrate (hard if you have family and kids). Out of almost 1000 Czech licence holders, more than 50% now work abroad. Sad.
The main pressing issue of Smartwings is its fleet. The company decided to really invest into new metal and unfortunately they placed 39 solid orders for 737 MAX, part by lessors and part directly. 7 of them got delivered before the grounding and are now catching dust at the end of defunct runway 22 at Prague. 9 MAXes are sitting in Renton on Boeing staff parking lot but were originally expected to be here before June 19. And 6 additional had delivery date between Oct and Dec this year. That is 21 bodies. More than 1/3 of total airline capacity is sorely missed and Smartwings is forced to storno 10% of its flights and replace the rest by renting anything that can keep itself in the air, even just by glue and prayer. (But sometimes we spotters get treated with fancy wet leases like brand new 350 of Ethiopian doing charter between Greek islands and Prague/Bratislava). Smartwings believes MAX will return to service before next summer season, but nobody even dares to thing what would happen if MAX grounding should conntinue past April 2020. That would be critical.
Smartwingsīs plans with ČSA are completely unclear. All ATR72s should go away after next summer, A319s got partly scraped and mostly used for wet leases (currently with Brussels). Second planned 330 was not based in Prague but in Poland instead. It still has 9 solid orders for A320s, but this got postponed several times and now Airbus offers to change them into 321XLRs and A220s, last meeting was 3 weeks ago but no idea what the future will bring.
In result, fleet plans in Smartwings change every few months. And nobody really knows what capacity will be available next summer. Under such conditions, every other airline would probably go the way of Thomas Cook (like mentioned in first post). However, the majority owner is pretty rich, SM is just small part of his group of companies and so has no problem to cover any cash shortage. As long as he personaly sees future for SM, this airline can continue to operate despite huge financial loss incurred due to MAX grounding.
And if we touch job possibilities for SM pilots. Only 3 airlines have bases in Czechia/Prague. SM, ČSA and Ryanair. Ryanair closes its base in Prague in October. ČSA have not hired for a few years. So any Czech ATPL pilot that doesnt want to work for Smartwings can either look for very sparse biz jet jobs, or has to emigrate (hard if you have family and kids). Out of almost 1000 Czech licence holders, more than 50% now work abroad. Sad.
Join Date: May 2022
Location: Poland
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Hello guys,
I would like to ask you if there is someone among of you who works as a pilot in Smartwings or has taken part in a recruitment in this airline. I got invitation for the assessment and I have a few questions.
All the best,
Tom.
I would like to ask you if there is someone among of you who works as a pilot in Smartwings or has taken part in a recruitment in this airline. I got invitation for the assessment and I have a few questions.
All the best,
Tom.
Only half a speed-brake
Congnitive reasoning test:
Before peak summer, Company is looking for foreign cabin crew. The contract says upon joining the first week of accommodation is provided at the employer's expense.
After arriving to Prague, how many days need to be provided for people who already worked there the previous year and successfully completed their fixed-term contract then?
Before peak summer, Company is looking for foreign cabin crew. The contract says upon joining the first week of accommodation is provided at the employer's expense.
After arriving to Prague, how many days need to be provided for people who already worked there the previous year and successfully completed their fixed-term contract then?
Join Date: Sep 2021
Location: Italy
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Smartwings
Hi! I am also interested to take part in Smartwings, any tips or advice for assessment?
