FPA, someone on pprune wrote that questions are about company and typical ATPL questions, good luck !

Is there any person who applied to cadet position and was invited to take this exam ?

Ladies and gents,

There appear to be a lot of disgruntled people on this thread. Can I just ask, without emotion, is Wizz a friendly decent place to be?

Looking at PPJN the salary for an FO is E20k? What would the likely bases be at the moment and could you advise on what you'd likely be taking home (both gross and net) working an average month? No idea on the number of sectors you'd be doing.

PPJN also has some information saying Wizz keep some of your salary for the first few months? Is this accurate and if so for what purpose? I'm rated on the bus so I'm assuming that this would be applicable only for non-rated applicants?

I'm in no hurry or chasing a command but given that I might be out of work shortly just trying to put as many irons in the fire as possible. Thought Wizz might be an exciting place to be for a while?

Cheers

So, with an average sector pay factored in, what can a DEC expect to make on average per month (net)

Cheers

EUR 6,000-7,000 ?

previous experience
 

to B767PL : 737 rated captain with approx. 5000 hrs, pm me if you have other questions.

to all who replied with info regarding the recruitment: thanks !

Adhemar

Online Quiz
 

Hello Guys,

I was wondering if anybody can share some info about the online quiz for Wizzair.Are the questions related to the everyday flying use like RVSM,
CAT 1 2,3, MSA etc or they are asking complex questions we had in our ATPL like Altimetry, Gen Nav,MET etc?

Which subjects did they target mostly?

Thanks in advance
JJ

Average is about 6500 a month.

Less:

- Swiss tax

- living costs at base (Not cheap if you want Western European standards)

- commuting and other travel (To and from work)


What is left? No much for a lot of work.

The question come straight from the JAR ATPL database, so you can get all sorts of questions - definition of Mach, errors of a Mach meter..

Plus questions regarding Wizz Air (operations centres, bases, founded when?)

Adhemar
 

Adhemar,

Thanks for gettin back and GL. :ok:

6500 a month??? doubt it. unless you have 48+ sectors plus some kids to reduce your "taxation" in switzerland.
in wizz you are highly depending on sectors and the contract you are on.
therefore on certain bases (ktw, vno etc) you go down sometimes to less than 4000 as a skipper!!! on others with "better" contracts you may reach 6000.


wizzair is very simple to describe:

good place for fo`s to gain a lot of hours quickly in the a320 (and most of them quite new)

good place for experienced fo`s to get a shot for an upgrade

good place for "local captains" since most of the time wizzair is the only "local" employer, therefore its not hard for wizz to be the best one

bad place for expat captains since salary is low, high commuting costs, massive amount of work in a very demanding environment, no social benefits, no pension plans, no nothing.


all in all it can be a good shot for certain people for a limited amount of time, however, if you plan for a long term career, you will not find it there unless you are "local".
thats why so many expats are leaving... and most of them dont stay a year...

But thats what I said. 6500 - tax - housing - this and that.

6500 is an average based on the total gross/12.

Salary very variable indeed. You could be around 6500, before Swiss tax if you're lucky with your base, but you can also be just over 5000, before taxes.And don't expect to choose your base.

Then, for the guys with bad luck (with ETOPS contract), you still have to deduct 300 every month (agency fees...). Then, yes, you pay your accommodation, transport, commuting. For Western Std, not enough. But more than ok for East. Europe, if you compare the average salary around here...

'quite agree with the analysis of enemymine above..:D

sorry wizzkid, should have read more properly, my mistake:ouch:

@labomba:

really, the etops guys pay an "agency fee"? didnt know that one... oh boy, it gets better and better over there...

On a good flying base during the busy summer months one can make quite a bit. The slow months in the middle of winter you might be down to 20 sectors a month does not help.

What people do forget is that many pilots commute to their homes and hence also have fixed expenses in another country than their base.

With the salaries they pay amount of work, conditions etc, Wizzair is unfortunately just not competitive anymore. Was it ever?

well, i guess it was and is a good choice for locals. i mean, wizzair pilots even earn more than their national carrier counterparts in most cases, they fly brand new busses (okok nearly all of them but not all) and they wont go bancrupt immediately.

but for someone non local who brings in 500+ hours of pic time on the 320 it was and is always a bad choice... wizz was never competitive on the international job market and never will be!

again, for locals and f/o`s who are willing to eat a bit of !!!!! it is a fantastic jumppad and opens up new opportunities like upgrades, pic time, a320 time, you name it.
just dont forget to jump afterwards and dont get stuck:-)

Captains in Wizz will not generally get 6500€ per month NET of taxes. An average Base Captain would get about 7000€ or so. And that is for all the work that goes into that particularly arduous task (if done properly).

If you work on about 5500€ per month for a normal year 1 or 2 line Captain as a yearly average, I think you would be about right. And then if you pay tax in your home country, it is obviously seriously less than that.

Some bases do fly more sectors than others and in busy periods you may get reasonably well rewarded. However, it is monstrously hard work and unstable.

But, as I said before, there are serious opportunities for those who want them. Command, Training, Management and the list goes on.........

Wizz will, like everyone else eventually, review Captain pay. They still have problems getting enough good Captains in the door be they local or expat.:\

Base change
 

When can one expect eligibility for a base change? Is there a waitlist and above all is it strictly adhered to? What I mean is, have there been cases of people jumping the qew from whatever reason?


Thnx

Lwf

base changes are based on waiting lists and it is adhered to.
first come, first serve basis. system is working quite well. however, one must be aware that certain bases are not open for years to come, others are desperate to find people so it also depends on which one you want to go...

absolutely right narrow rwy,

5500-6000 if you cancel this overrated thing called private life or sleep/rest.
5000 if your roster allows for at least a bit of sleep.
but be aware of the following:

this is only possible if you sign the non-local contracts. but those are only given out in certain bases. in others you get local contracts. then you hardly jump over 5000, more realistic is 4000-4500max.
so you if you are on a local contract, you lose about a thousand for social security/pension/health insurance payment in that respective country despite the fact that you will never see a dime again from that money.
great deal, isnt it?

if you go on the non-local contract you will be responsible for your taxation in your country as well as your social payment obligations and your insurances. so you end up with 5000 or 5500 and nothing payed. no insurance, no pension, no nothing! and you are, contrary to the local contract a "service provider" and they can sack you in a heartbeat. plus the tax/insurance/social payments issue and always in the back of your mind...

then you pay for your accomodation in your home country as well as the one in your base, which is quite expensive is you want to have european standarts in these places called "central" eastern europe...

then you get a roster which will start early on the first day of your shift period and ends late on the last so forget 6/4. reality says 6/2 and the missing 2 is used for positioning.

again, for locals who do not have the commuting issue or the "paying for 2 places" issue it might be good and rewarding. for any expat, who is not looking for an upgrade or fast a320 time, it is an absolute no brainer whether to go there or not.

a lot of captains leaving for the facts stated above so for sure good opportunities coming up for people looking for upgrades!

Any information on the best/cheapest place to do the A320 type rating?....cheers!

Sorry guys. I just calculated my average and it is 6620 per month gross.

You are one of the fortunate few. Well done.

However, you are talking GROSS figures (before tax deductions) whereas we were talking NET figures (after tax deductions).

Difficult to compare two totally different statistics really.

dear wizzkid,


6600 gross... ok how many sectors did you fly for that? 50+? 48?

all the time early morning and shifting to late evenings and vice versa?

12 hour days with only 1 liter of water and a sandwich able to walk under its own power? enjoy doing that for a few years more and bye bye!

also you end up close to 6000 net with that but remember, NOTHING!!! is payed! no social stuff, no insurance, no pension, no nothing!

and your swiss tax number, did you check that funny joke on last years bill? wonder when that stuff implodes on you... has been discussed before in a separate threat though...

and you have worked your ass of for that! plus many guys in wizz doing the same amount of flying and dreaming about getting out stuff close to 6000net due to a different contract or base.

im not saying wizzair is generally a bad choice, just dont tell me it is great to make money or work there long term. because the pay is and will remain way below everything acceptable for an a320 skipper and the working conditions are even worse than the salary. i mean, 1l of water and 1 sandwich for a 12 hour day is seriously a joke if it wouldnt be that sad

Gross 6500

- say 12% Swiss tax rounded up to 800

- 1500-2000 for housing (Internet, phones, electricity, gas, management etc)
- 500 for food both in and out of the airplane
- 500 for travel related expenses, bus, taxi and what was called Midicar

Leaves you with 2700 to 3200 a month to cover costs at home should you have a home and family elsewhere.

- Costs at home

Left at the end of the month: 500.

This I think makes the comparison easier.

@wizzkid,


ok i payed less for the housing but more for the travel. in the end i do agree by 100%, more than 500 in your pocket wont happen that often after paying your own pension and insurances... great deal for an a320 skipper, isnt it?:bored:

@wizzkid

Yes, and now imagine you are a First Officer...

yes and now as a first officer you get deducted 1000 euro per month for your type rating. even better!:ugh:

Hey guys,

I recently got the invite to do the online test. I'm wondering where the current requirement is the highest for first officers, if i'm fortunate enough to pass the selection. It would be nice to know where I could potentially be based if I end up working for wizzair. Also, this may have been asked before, but what would generally be considered a good ballpark figure for FO's to calculate with when it comes to net takehome pay in an average base?

Thanks for the info.

@ dr.faust: you have an a320 rating or not?

No rating sir. About 1500TT of which close to 1400 on the Q400. Just did the online test a few days ago. It was hard and ambiguous in a few questions, still expecting a result but really no Idea how I did. Hope it's positive.

Anybody knows if there is a chance to get an upgrade with 4500 TT
of which 1500 on B737 and 2500 on A320?
Thanks

Yes, but they don't take direct upgrades anymore, at least 6 months RHS, then selection, then SIM + line training.

not even sure, might be possible straight away. would definetely try to negotiate that... they are short on commanders. maybe by agreeing to a nice place like kiev or somewhere in dark romania can help increasing your chances!

No, it won't.

You'll need to do a stint in the RHS. I can categorically, 100%, promise you that.

Well that just makes Wizzair a non-starter for experienced pilots. Who in their right mind with reasonable hours or command time would accept the FO T&C?

It's their trainset.

They clearly know what they're doing.....

NR you are not correct. See the website. DEC is still possible.

well i remember there were discussions about this rhs procedure but i recon if they really implement that, they wont get anywhere near the number of commanders they will need.
the only reason an expat is joining wizz is to get either airbus hours as an fo or airbus command hours straight away. there is no other reason for an expat to join this company, everything else is just waaaayyyy below market standard.
so if you take away the reason of dec, no one with experience will ever join there and since they bleed out of captains/experience, it would rather do them good to get some experienced personnel in.
only question is, do they realize that...:ugh:

Wizzaird,

My apologies. I stand corrected. You are in the know, i am not, and the situation has changed.The return of a DEC scheme for SFO's with Airbus ratings is, I'm sure, a very welcome and sensible step - especially after such a long hiatus.

What a shame it wasn't allowed a few months ago, as I'm certain that there are plenty of willing/able candidates out there.

Best regards from a slow paced life. I hope you are doing well :-)

When you can offer daily freelancing, I am available.