WOW Airlines
 

Anyone got any info on this airline, based in KEF ?
Ts & Cs the usual. Seems a mix of Short, Medium and Long haul.
Thanks.:ok:

20/10 schedule.

Cpt €7700 + €145 per diem, in other words, €10600 per month.
FO €4250 + €100 per diem, €6250 per month.

Accommodation is "subsidized at base" so I guess that means you will end up paying most of that cost.

Not exactly the best deal around but they are supposed to be a friendly bunch of people.

Apparently the accomodation, will be at the former US base at KEF airport. WOW's owner has bought some housing there which apparently is for this use. Not exactly an exciting area...

Been There Done That
 

A few words about WOW.
Read the small print. Iceland has taxes as high as Belgium.
Being an island, food and restaurants are about 2 times more expensive than EU.
Booze is 3 times more expensive than EU.
Crews have special allowances for DF, but... if you lapse and get caught, the fine is minimum 200 EUR.
One alcohol store per town/village.
Normal supermarkets sell only mild beer - 2.5/3.0 %.
Winter starts mid August ends mid June.
BIKF is a beloved test-flight airport for x-wind.
Also all NATO AFs love to exercise and transit through there. Imagine just falling asleep after a night duty and a ****** Typhoon screams past your window!
Yeah. Past your window. Because the so called "accommodation" is a refurbished ex-officers quarters in the former USAF base!
Same refurbished place has vent lids that clatter like mad in any wind above 25 knots - a light breeze by Iceland standards where 70 knots winds are quite common. Have a good night!
And WOW operation is one of the most difficult I have ever had in my career.
Winter time closest alternate is Glasgow, about 2 hours away...
Have a look, by the way, at your main alternate BIAR...
Iceland/WOW is not a place for faint hearted people or hour builders!
Only good pass-time is fishing.
Cod and mackerel are abundant and great fun.
Any local woman can drink you to death. If you survive, you stand a slim chance of a ****. And they don't like us foreigners. Because we stand out like sore thumb. And when we are gone, they still need to find someone to keep them warm for 10 months...
You can buy me some virtual beers...
:ok:

LZ, love that post :ok:
What is DF though?

Not a newbie, been around the block, with several Thousand hours under the belt and was looking for somewhere different. I hear the skiing is good which also is an attraction :)⛷

Is long haul a realistic upgrade option too? Are the salaries the same?

Currently Rated 320/321

Thanks :cool::ok:

Crew Duty Free allowance is 0.5 l of liquor or 1.5 l of wine or 3 l of beer per 72 hours, counting from the last purchase.

That's barely enough... :E

@ C Star

Absolutely right especially after that what LZ-DOC wrote ;-) . It seems you need a lot of booze to make life there colourfull ^^

OK got it now :( Where on earth are you going to get 0.5 L as most are sold in 0.7L and 1L bottles..... :confused:

I am an Eastern European, so I need double that, just to survive ...:} On the brighter side, I should be able to drink with local women and live to tell the tale... Where do I apply?

Contract is directly with agency so Icelandic taxes not applicable.

Weather is same as you'll find in many parts of Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, Russia, northern UK etc.

As far as I understand, moving to 330 from 320 involves pay deductions for CCQ until paid off. 330 probably means some night stops depending on how the network will develop and therefore some time off the island while being on duty.

Roster
 

What is a typical roster during the 20 days on?

Hi,
I am considering the contract. Has anyone of you attended the assessment? if so what can I expect in terms of interview and simulator.
Many thanks in advance.

Work your nuts off

Apparently WOW employees were told today that the A330s are late. Like really late.
The first one to be registered TF-GAY (and when painted was thoroughly photographed and advertised in certain circles) has not been registered at all.

Aircraft Registry Lookup | Register | Aircraft | Aviation | Icelandic Transport Authority

Planespotters lists it as "stored". Wonder how this will work out.

funny guys in the licensing department

• 2 Airbus A320-200 (: "TF-BRO", "TF-SIS")
• 4 Airbus A321-200 ( "TF-MOM", "TF-DAD", "TF-KID", "TF-SON")

• 1 Airbus A330-300 "TF-GAY")

Is there an age limit for these guys?

so whos the agency that is doing the hiring?

The agency is Confair.

I have recently almost signed with CONFAIR, after talking to my lawyer (incidentally she is my mother...) we decided that the contract was so badly written that, for some people it might make sense to work for them just to sue confair on some mishandling that they will do for sure...

In the end, I decided not to go. The bunch from WOW seemed fine but the lady in Holland was a disgrace. On top of that, the taxes in France would cut your salary 50%(no special taxation since your employer is not an airline)

They could change to a decent agency? I have heard only bad about Confair

10600 for a Captain gross to operate far away from everything in super challenging conditions is simply put, RIDICULOUS AND OFFENSIVE. Add to that they don't hire you directly but they use :mad: legal mambo Jumbo set ups to have a layer of protection between themsef and you is appealing.

Remax good comment. However is that with their agent? Where are you supposed to pay taxes etc

lads, it's the oldest ponzi scheme in the world. The airline doesn't wanna hire you directly so they switch a middle man, an agency which in return calls you self-employed yet another bogus. You're liable for taxes and social security somewhere beyond any doubt. Not paying those is called tax evasion. It's just another scam.

I flew with a chap that just joined the orange brigades: he was adamant to say that the operations are indeed super challenging (the guy is a TRI/ senior TRE with 35 years in the industry) and, he said quite sadly that, the Dutch side of the contract, not only is worthless but the people in the office literally laughed at him when he pointed out few "details" that were not -so to say- clear.

He bailed out quite abruptly and not on good terms.

That's his story...

What is it with this Confair lot and the Icelandics . Do they own Confair?

Can anybody share some information on the pay and rosters on the A330?

Is there a way to be directly employed by WOW Air, being european/Schengen citizen?

At their doing you shall know them
 

I think my qualification is good enough. At a turnaround in KEF I met a captain of Icelandic Air who told me WOW air is 'desperately' looking for pilots. Sent an application through their website. Apart from an automatic confirmation they didn' t even answer.

I would be very wary of any airline that is 'desperate' for pilots; there's usually a VERY good reason for their desperation.

Buyer beware.

@Brix,

Try applying via Confair. They are advertising A320 and A330 positions for WOW, both seats. They are running series of interviews next week and an later next month...

On another note - can anyone give some info on where/how the taxes are paid on WOW/Confair contracts?

Not always a bad sign to be looking for pilots. They are a young and growing airline at a time when experienced and available pilots are in short supply.

So the word from the interview a few weeks ago is that there are no overnights in Europe. All Europe flying is out and backs. Layovers in North America and are 24hrs. Did not hear anything about the hotels.

CCQ to the A330 is the goal of the company. More accurately they want all captains cross qualified on both aircraft, so one trip may be on the A321/320 and then your next trip on the A330.

Did not hear anything about wet leases, but the company apparently has 7 more aircraft coming in 2017.

Why is one of their 330 on "EC" reg? Wet lease??

Air Europa Wet lease till October.....

Hi NordicFly,

Thanks for reply. No secrets, just trying to gather some more info on things at WOW and you seem to be the only one "in the know" around here...

I've got a couple of questions and would appreciate your input:


1. Taxes. I roughly know the figures offered by Confair, but can't figure out where taxes are paid- Iceland, home country, or elsewhere? Same question for social security/pension

2. Rosters. What do they look like on the 330? How much does one fly and how long are the layovers? Do they do Mixed Fleet Flying at the moment (that would actually be cool! Have flown and would love to fly both). Also, you mentioned rosters will now be non-commuting - how will they look now? No possibility of commute at all, or do you get something like 3-4 off days in a row?

3. Tickets. Is there any staff travel available for employees and family?

4. Last but not least- how's the general atmosphere within the company and how are the operations run? is it relaxed, easy going, or do they have strict SOPs?

Hi NordicFly - that's exactly the kind of info I was looking for. Owe you some beers if I ever show up @KEF :ok:

BTW, what do you think about the stability and growth of this operation?

I believe gross salary offered used to be around €10600 incl extra pay. An ex colleague of mine just got an email from Confair and "average gross salary including per diem" is now €8000. Obviously getting enough desperate souls applying. What a self destructive group of "professionals" we pilots are.

So contract wise no difference then to the Ryanair guys who are "self employed" I guess...

While terms and conditions are on the rise almost globally, European contracts are still firmly stuck in the never ending downward spiral.

Oh dear, LAX and SFO cut. A330 fleet reduced to 1.

Heartymeatballs:
Do you have anything further on that?