Early Christmas at Wizz! Requesting 2 weeks unpaid leave for Christmas!
 

Not complaining or moaning, but is this really true?

Already not top bracket taxpayer exactly with Wizz, and now they have made a company request for pilots to volunteer to take 2 weeks unpaid holiday, for helping the company over winter!!!! :ugh: !

In addition to take all other available holidays before Christmas, now this makes me worry for the companies stability!

Already on probably some of the lowest pay in Europe, and now they want all crew to take at least 2 weeks unpaid holiday!

What is going on with company? Is this a wobble, or just a way to maximize profits during winter?

Other operators do this over the lean winter months and there are usually plenty of people that will jump at the chance to do nothing for a while. Unless they're making it compulsory I'd suggest it's good business sense rather than impending financial collapse :hmm:

I suppose the more volunteers that agree to this will prevent it from being a three line whip for everyone?

In most companies, except in aviation they will give you Christmas bonus!

Not sure how many would be happy with seeing their pay slashed to 2 weeks pay with Wizz in December! Specially for FO!

Already one of the lowest paid jobs in the industry, if company was paying top salaries I would understand, not an issue, but when you nearly making nothing, and than they want to give you half of nothing!
Hmmm :=

So I guess this means they are not hiring? :ooh:

What is the attrition level at Wizz? Anybody know?

The thing is they are hiring. About 8 mates got interviews 15th and 18th of Oct. Few of them will tell Wizz to piss off as theyve found employment elsewhere on better T&Cs.... not hard really... :ok:

@ AUSSIE

Your buddies got a job at McDonalds? Good on 'em. Nice one.

N77... Nuh sorry, my bad. THey have interviews sched. but will call them up this week and tell them they are not coming because got work elsewhere. Hence tell them to piss off nicely before going :ok:

Well as far as your concerned your very wrong! LOT pays approx same as Wizz FO - Capt at wizz will make more then at LOT. OLT... Paid more then Wizz. Significantly more for FO and little more for capt ;) Furthermore, OLT paid Fixed salary.. 30hrs or 90hrs, pay was the same.. Unlike Wizz and LOT :)

Narrow Runway... hehe yeah couldnt have said it better myself! :eek::ok:

The thing is they are hiring. About 8 mates got interviews 15th and 18th of Oct. Few of them will tell Wizz to piss off as theyve found employment elsewhere on better T&Cs.... not hard really...

Good for them. But not everybody is so fortunate. Not hard really.. ;)

You got a job unlike others i know right now... what you complaining about....? :ok: Not hard really :)

Hey guys,

Look, the thing is this: Yes, everyone knows that the pay in Wizz could be a lot better.

But, it can't be a surprise. It has been that way since it started.

For sure, FO pay is low, but let us ask ourselves this: is it any worse now in Wizz, than at easyJet or Ryanair for new hires?

Wizz has always been a good place to build hours, get a Command, get into training, get into management (delete as appropriate for you). Then leave. The problems begin if you get stuck there.

This business has changed irrevocably, in every sense, for all time. It isn't going back to what it used to be.

If Wizz are hiring, then that's good news. If some guys can turn them down for interview because they have achieved better jobs, that is also good. It is a win/win for everyone.

I agree, I am very happy for the chance I have been given with the company!

As long as company stable, and of course having accepted the TC's in the start is fine, only comment of stability vs trend with such news.
I also know of many guys who are currently being recruited, so find that a little odd with request of days off vs more guys coming into the company!

Off course accepting these conditions, you would expect that you did not need to expect 2 weeks unpaid holiday, besides that I can see both the pros and cons as you mention Narrow Runway!

@SantasWizz:

I forgot to say that in 2010, the company asked for volunteers to take unpaid leave.

It was well oversubscribed, so I would expect the same again.

Highly unlikely you'll be forced to take unpaid leave IMHO, and I don't think there is any connection with Wizz's likelihood of survival and unpaid leave.

If I'm wrong, I still don't think that it has any connection with the airlines survival. Remember, in 2010, Paddy Power bookmakers had Wizz Air down to be the next airline to go bust at odds of 9/4.

Since then: BMI (effectively), Cirrus, OLT, Spanair, Malev etc etc. all gone bust.

BA have been offering up unpaid leave for the past couple of years.

It's standard practice when the projected flying program forecasts an excess of pilots for routes flown.

Built4Speed
 

You're wrong I'm afraid. Wizz FO contract has been €20,000 for quite some time I believe.

On top of that the FO earns €30 per sector flown.

An SFO (not sure what the criteria is for that), earns €25,000 basic, plus €30 per sector flown.

Wizz do at least offer a basic salary, unlike Ryanair. Therefore, I cannot really understand your logic. Why would Wizz want more FO's to fly less hours?

The Ryanair model is based upon selling expensive type ratings and dividing the workforce. Wizz's model is not. It is based on having the absolute minimum number of staff in EVERY department, but using them to as near as maximum as is practicable.

I believe that Wizz do not want to impose unpaid leave on anybody at all. However, if the take up of voluntary unpaid leave is not sufficient, then it may become necessary to do just that.

As I said previously, in 2010 the take up of voluntary unpaid leave exceeded the available unpaid leave. Not sure if that will be the case again this time, but let us hope it is.

I left Wizz 18 months ago. But the limited information I have is that the company is profitable, but not stupid. They are looking to minimise Winter losses in order to continue to provide jobs and services going forward.

Let's face it: If you can afford to take 2 weeks unpaid leave in a period of crappy weather at predominantly Cat1 Eastern European airports, what's not to like?

Go skiing instead :ok:

At the moment they are looking for volunteers, however so far not been sufficient.

From what I understand, they need a certain amount of hours over a 5 month period, if not volunteers, they will have to start forcing it!

Regarding the sector pay, that does differ, depending on your base.

Overall it is a good company to work for, and with good prospects, accept it for what it is, and stay positive, which I do!

Knowing that it is something of a norm, it does assure me a bit, of course I would like to avoid to have to get my pay cut in half one month, so hope for the best!

If you do your ATP in these days, you will spend half your career paying to fly.

Something to seriously think about.

Safe life: Good reason to not start training currently. Too many heroes think it'll "be different for them somehow", only to moan later.

I'm with GA Button on this one. If you still have a job in aviation at the moment, it's a good result.

For sure, it'd be better if unpaid leave wasn't happening. But mass redundancy due to mismanagement, and Ostrich behaviour, would be far worse.

Wizz is, what it is. A low cost carrier. Play the game, get your hours, Command, Training job, Management position (delete as appropriate) and then assess your options. If leaving is a better option than staying, no-one will stop you.

The interesting thing is that pilot attrition is way down in Wizz Air. People just aren't leaving in huge numbers. What does that say? Either there are no jobs out there, or that Wizz Air is actually not too bad a place to work at............

Or the demographics of the workforce have changed in such way that workers are from, or at least live permanently in the city they are based in. The trend was that the company turned more and more native with non-locals taking the road leaving the company increasingly locally crewed.

Many view the company, as Narrow Runway pointed out, a place to play the game. It is an excellent stepping stone for the low hour FO and for the FO looking for a quick command. With the local conditions in mind, Wizzair offers a local pilot a chance to be home and if not excellent salary at least a good salary by local standards. For many a night home is worth a lower salary. One can make thousands upon thousands living in China but what good is that if you never see your family or spend majority of your time away from them. Personally I would happily take half the pay to spend double the amount of time home.

For those having a life elsewhere it is far from being a financial bliss and many that left are now making more than double to Wizz salaries with half the workload, again this is mostly people that do not originate from the areas where Wizz have their bases. However there has been some local pilots making a move to other operators outside the region.

As for cabin crew. Many, I would have to say a very large number have found new opportunities in the gulf with the large companies hiring there. Needless to say but the cabin crew salaries while higher than those the Irish wonder provides are still far cry from what a trained CC can earn elsewhere.

"It is an excellent stepping stone for the low hour FO "

Under what is currently happening in Europe, that is no longer the case, either. Unless your definition of a low hour FO is a not so low hour FO.

There are no jobs out there for non-TR people, and even for TR folks they are far and few between. Hell, even the ME has for the time being slowed or stopped their hiring.