Smartlynx
 

Hello everyone,

anyone reading here who is (or has been) working with Smartlynx? I am currently trying to get some first-hand reports about the company.

Replay
 

Hi! Iam working, how i can help you?:hmm:

I am not working for them, yet, but will start next week their cadet program with BAA...I do know a couple of FO's working for them tough..let me know if you need anything.

Great to hear from you guys!

I will soon have the final interview for the BAA/Smartlynx cadet program and I am very excited about it. I try to figure out what working with them would look like, if I make it. I realize that they are an ACMI airline, operating point-to-point flights towards the mediterranean area and egypt out of Talinn, Vilnius and Riga, and also will station you anywhere in the world where they have a wetlease contract (I see that they have aircraft in Vietnam, France and Norway at the moment). That sounds very interesting to me, especially regarding hourbuilding and getting handflying experience at special airports as a young pilot.

I would be especially interested how many hours you make there per month in both winter and summer seperately, and maybe someone could give me an insight into a duty plan?

Was wondering what the pay is like, how many hours you tend to fly a year and what the basing is like (in terms of time spent at one base, do you get any sort of say where you go) and any other info that may help re life at smartlynx! thanks.

I too would like to know about the airlines if anyone can shed some light on in. Thanks

Thank alot for the info. Is the Small Planet Airlines also like SmartLynx? or is the Pilots life a little better there?
Also, do you happen to know what is the average gross monthly salary of the FO?

What is pay for FO?

I think LOLO put it plain enough above. Only go here if you can't get anything better. Simples!

Does someone know about Direct entry cpt ? Do they pay the type as well ? Got interview in Amsterdam coming, but I don't have info.
Thanks

Except that SPA PL is a pure charter operator? Never mind the facts. :ugh:

You are correct, not so pure, also many ACMI for SPA.de (this is getting really funny right here) My bad. Still, there is a fundamental difference between the (almost pure) ACMI specialists SLX, AvEX and SPA.pl who were a charter airline dedicated to the Polish market (with logical exceptions in the winter time). The point was to know your enemy, not to mix them. Lynx does ACMI "wholesale" for easyJet, running crews on 7/2 rotations whereas EZY do 5453. Truckload of beans right there!

The business powers that be also lobbied successfully in few CE and EE countries for piloting to become a recognized contractual profession. Can't blame them, but that is the real beast in my opinion.

The rates of pay listed on ppjn are quoted per day. Do the pilots in Smartlynx get paid for everyday of the contract period? How many days in a month will be paid on average?

You are right, better be cautious. However SP has dark side. Their bankruptcy in Poland and Germany in my opinion is staged.

It depends on the business they do with other airlines.
On the contract it is stated that you can stay up to 60 days at home as unpaid leave according to their needs. So it means that your pay will be between full rate and 16% less in average over the year...
Some month it might be possible to have 0 euros as salary.

i would be very careful with this crowd, the financials are not looking good and would suggest they could be the next Small Planet, Primera etc

What's the basis for this claim?

i have friends working in aviation leasing and whilst the companies they work for DO NOT lease planes to Smartlynx, the chatter around the table is that they are in big trouble and could be the next airline to go, of course could just be a big rumour but would make sense given their business model and what has happened to SP and Primera. They might be able to get through the winter as price of fuel has dropped but i doubt it. If i was looking for a new job at present i would stay well clear of start ups and charter companies and would stick to the 4 or 5 established LCCs and the legacy carriers if you can get in as a direct entry captain. I have friends who were made redundant by Monarch, went to Primera and are now back to square one again, they have new driving jobs lined up but a lot of upheaval for the families over the last 12 months.

Would you say their business model is any similar to SPA and Primera? Or perhaps that whatever thin ice the two walked over also lies ahead for SLX?

i doubt TCX would come out of this smelling of roses if it was the case and could spell trouble for them ahead as well if they had fewer 3rd parties to operate flights on their behalf

Smartlynx have very little or nothing in common with the other two. SP and Primera pretty much grew out of unsustainable bank loans whilst Smartlynx have been growing at a very slow and sustainable rate for over 25 years. Company has millions in their own assets and their annual reports are looking healthy. I honestly don't know what "financials" you are looking at but I would like to know.

LoL that was pretty much the reaction a friend of mine had after a selection day and sim ride a couple of years ago.

to be fair at least they SIM checked their drivers, Small Planet hied a bucket load in Germany last year and never did a SIM

Hour-building?
 

You don't build hours in the right-seat of an A320/B737. You learn your profession.

That prevailing attitude of new FO's, who have paid for their ratings, is that hour-building is the next stage of training. IT IS NOT. You are flying freight/paying passengers, and gaining experience and airmanship along the way.

can you share a bit more details? Like what went wrong, in what way was it appalling and so on? Clearly a pilot attending assessments and being in position to compare it with Easyjets operation should be able to articulate him(her)self a bit better?

Well, that was an unexpected reply:oh:

I honestly thought your post was about assessment/job interview experience, I didn't realize someone could drag consumer issues into this discussion :D Regarding the seat issue - Smartlynx has the same 180 seat 29 inch pitch layout as easyjet. Regarding FA, I can't comment, wasn't there.

I did. English dictionary describes word "to Proceed" as "begin a course of action" or "move forward". One can assume it means as much "going to work for them" as "going to travel as a pax with them" if no additional context is given, however you did refer to the OT (Original Topic (Thread)), which reads loud and clear - anyone reading here who is (or has been) working with Smartlynx?

I, personally, do not work for them, I have not applied to them, I have no intention to do so as I'm happy in my current company, however I have traveled with them and I have friends who work there and it looks like our mileage varies

Thanks for the English lesson. In my world OT means Off Topic. But what do I know. It´s just wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Off_topic

I can only comment on this one flight. Unfortunately, that was more than enough for me.

Regarding seat pitch, I flew Easy and Smartlynx on the same day. Unless I grew longer legs during the day, there is no way both aircraft had the same seat pitch on that particular day.

chill.. We had a bit of a giggle at your expense, no reason to turn bitter. Any chance easy is using one of those new fancy slim chairs? I think Smartlynx are still with the old fashioned cushion type recaros or whatever they were, maybe that's where the difference comes from. Or you were sitting at an extra legroom seat in easy..

SmartLynx interview
 

Hi! I will have interview with smartlynx for the cadet program next month and was wondering if anybody there has already done it and would not mind sharing the experience! :)

If it is the program offered via Baltic Aviation Academy I would think twice and read this thread thoroughly: https://www.pprune.org/professional-...academy-9.html

Interview
 

Thanks for sending it over, it will of course be considered. I am however scheduled for an interview and I would like to talk to them myself, and perhaps they will be able to offer some clarification on a few issues raised in this discussion.
I just would like to talk to somebody who has gone through the interview in order to prepare myself better, I of course have been reading a lot online, but I am missing personal insights that only a frank talk with somebody who has experienced it can give, just for my own reference :) things like what kind of questions, most discussed topic, tone of the interview, lenght of the interview, dress code, etc.

Some of those things you will find in a post by user "Idontlikeusername" on the very page I linked to. You can try sending him/her a message. But please please please, read the last three or four pages of the thread first. It should tell you all you need to know without going for an interview.

I have been to the interview. They seem to take everyone, nothing to prepare. I guess they rely on BAA's assessment, but just want to see your face. It took around 15 minutes. I was very happy to take 2 days off and travel to Riga for 15 minutes.
Then I read the thread on BAA, and declined the proposal.

Interview means nothing. They took everyone. It is waste of time, money and energy to attend and even consider Smartlynx cadet programme. There will be only February group in 2019 and today 11 Jan. They are still looking for candidates to join the programme. All of the current Smartlynx cadet looking for not to join them but attending job fairs and information sessions of other airlines. I think this is self explaining.

Why not to try European Flight Academy?