Polish airline scene 2012
 

This is directed mainly at our central European colleagues. The airline scene in Poland seems to be changing fast...

- Air Poland recently went out of business, putting some 737NG-rated people out of a job;
- A (reportedly substantial) number of Enter Air's 737 pilots have handed in their notice, apparently due to low pay - even by Polish standards...
- A new charter outfit, Bingo Air, has just emerged with A320s;
- Some pilots recently left flag carrier's LOT's E-jet fleet for OLT Express' expanding A320 fleet (some apparently due to lack of command prospects in the short/medium term);
- Some EuroLOT ATR pilots reportedly joined OLT Express' ATR fleet.

So a lot going on in the Polish pilot job market at the moment. Which outfit will gain from the movement is not yet clear; possibly Ryanair and Wizzair (with their local bases), plus up-and-coming OLT Express...

Cheers :cool:

Gday


yeah most ya info is spot on, except the one about Some pilots recently leaving LOTs Ejet fleet for Expanding OLT Express :) I know for a fact its only 1 pilot :) Lets stick to facts please :)

Cheers

Of course! My info was pieced together from second-hand sources, that why it's not 100% accurate. Feel free to correct as needed. Anyway, good to see that even in tough times, some people have enough guts to hand in their notice when they're not treated fairly. Somehow I can't imagine that happening in Western Europe...

So how's the A320 compared to the E-jet then? ;)

what about this?

Eurolot Signs for up to 20 Bombardier Q400 NextGen Airliners | INTERNATIONAL AVIATION NEWS

That's yesterday's news mate... According to the delivery schedule, EuroLOT should get their first Q400 this month, with crews currently being type rated in the UK.

Call me biased, but I prefer the ATR!

Crews for dash being trained in UK as well as Canada :)

A320 compared to Ejet... didnt say the 1 pilot who made the move was me :)

Ejet is far more advanced tho, let me tell you :):E

So the lucky ones go to Toronto? Nice!

Yeah from what I see (on the occasional jumpseat), E-jets have some very nice features. I like the SID/RoC profile view, drop-down menus, etc. Plus of course controls and thrust levers that actually move and have feedback! And performance to boot. Makes the A320 look its age...

Yeah the A320 has some good features too, specially considering it entered service over 20yrs ago... but the Ejet takes the Technologically Advanced cake :)

From FL370 to landing in 13 minutes... good job!

Incident: OLT Express A320 near Sofia on May 17th 2012, loss of cabin pressure, fire in cabin
http://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/4...ing-sofia.html

Very good job by the crew, specially considering it was a Line training flight .... :)

:ok:

OLT
 

Hello!

First of all, good Thread! Seems like Poland is one of few countries in EU where you can get jobs! :D
I was trying to find out more about OLT, what is the plan for that guys? To compete with FR and W6 on European routes, or to do the killing on home ground vs LOT and Eurolot? I also heard they fly some holiday charter... How many airframes planned, A320?
Any info appreciated! I also heard they pay much better then any other operator in PL:E
Thanks:ok:

Poland has indeed a fairly dynamic airline scene - unlike in Western Europe...

From the outside, OLT Express look more like competing with LOT/EuroLOT on domestic and regional routes than with the likes of Wizzair and Ryanair. Some have tried that before and bit the dust...

Once Euro 2012 is over and they have grabbed market share, I suspect they will re-task their A319/320s to European routes - can't really be making money in the long run flying A320s on domestic routes against LOT E-170s and EuroLOT ATRs and Q400s... They do operate charter flights with A320s, but with the "YAP" callsign inherited from Yes Airways - such as YAP7107 to Hurgada that diverted to Sofia.

As of May, fleet numbers were 2 ATR42s and 4 ATR72s, with 5 more to come. 8 A320s, plus 1 A319. Btw, paying "much better than any other operator in PL" does not mean much...

Thanks for the update!

With regards to the pay, that is only what I heard... €225/day for F/O, if being true, is far better then any other pl ops I know (apart from biz jets).

Perhaps, someone from the inside could enlighten us :-)

225 Euro per flying day for an A320 FO? That would be pretty good by Polish standards... Any idea of the going rate for captains on the ATR fleet?

Whiskey On Board
 

If you want more specific info and details, pvt msg me, ill help you out.

It is the best paying airline in PL today.

One out (Air Poland), one in (Bingo Airways)... talk about never-ending motion!

New Polish Airline Takes Off: key.Aero, Commercial Aviation

Air Poland has a new investor, is about to return to the market again.. least thats the rumour.. :)

Good to see.

recruitment at OLT
 

Hi there.

Is there any recruitment scheduled for Captains on the ATR at OLT?

Best regards

From what im told YES. They are taking Capt on ATR fleet, however the ATR and BUS feelts are seperate subsidiaries, so i cant tell ya much more!

Enter Air now has one 737 operating out of Paris-Roissy/Charles de Gaulle airport, flying (mostly to the Canary Islands) on behalf of French tour operators. It joins Small Planet Airlines, who also base a 737-300 and a A320 at the main Paris airport:

enter air : Départ immédiat

For the benefit of non-French speakers, the article mentions that French charter airlines are not amused by such competition on their home turf, SPA for instance offering the same level of service for 20% less cost. Air Mediterranee's CEO even questions their right to (temporarily) base aircraft and crews in France... but conveniently forgets to mention that the airline he heads recently delocalized part of its fleet (and crews) to Greece! Talk about double standards...

Cheers :cool: