SmartLynx contracts
 

Looking into job possibilities with SmartLynx. Anyone have any ideas what kind of employment schemes they run? T&Cs? Direct employment or contract? Roster patterns?

Worsening T&C
 

No direct employment, only agency. Rosters that look fine on paper but paper doesn't reflect the 20 hours travels to reach a 300km new location (to save money for the company), the subprime hotels in some bases, the compulsory relocations to unwanted bases, the absolute lack of compromise of the company with their pilots and the consideration as contractors (fake self-employment under the UE rules, but nobody seem ready to address this).<br /><br />Official pattern 23-8. Frequent roster changes even in rest time for the next day.<br /><br />The pay is ok, I suppose. Not competitive but ok.

slx is the worst acmi around now, dont get fooled by the nice pictures and linkedin bull!!!! they post; they are just a bunch of criminals like the entire aviasolution group.
you are advised.

Thanx for your insight!
I've heard rumours about contracts with companies in the UAE and possibly som African island. Any knowledge about such?

Three agencies : F2R in UAE, Confair in Netherland and I forgot the last one.

Salary explained here : https://www.pprune.org/interviews-jo...rtlynx-11.html

With them it's bargain, you offer, you get.
So far I don't have major pb except what has been said : travel team can make weird choices... Call them and tell them what you want.

About roster changes in rest time, they need your confirmation and you have a doubled off-day removed fee if you agree if they change it once published.

India project for this winter with 3 rotations : 23/8, 30/11, 45/16.

The other broker in Dubai is Aerviva. But we all know all of this it’s managed from baltic land.
If you apply on Smartlynx website and get trough recruitment process, good chance they will give you contract with Aerviva. It’s what i got.
I still have some good friends there. They removed their winter fees and maintained summer fees.
They will position you from everywhere in the world to keep their crew. It was not the case when i was there.

What Off-day removal fees amount? During my time there (2022) it was only 100 euros/ day… not really interesting.
Since so far it’s not really interesting. Some they prefer coming back home tonight as their flight ticket is more expensive than if you sell your off days 😅.

To Sum up, it’s play and game there and The standard is not good..
i will consider this company only in 2 cases :
1) in case of redundancy to get back on track and get current
2) for captain upgrade.

What do you want for off day remove ? 1000€ ? My god...

The standard is up to you, nobody will push you, we are not kids. There are excellent guys as well as very bad. Like in every company.
Many CP for Wizzair are here now, some from EZY, Qatar, Emirates... Many have skills.

It is interesting if you want to fly all over the world and not only for CP upgrade or get back on track. Of course if you have kids and wife at home and you want to fly 10h per month, being in your bed everyday that's not interesting. Again, everybody is in a different situation, what is interesting for me is not for you. This summer we flew between 80h and 100h per month in Istanbul for example.

And yes, double off day remove = 200€. Selling one week for 1400€ is not bad imo. You can make between 5k and 6k each months over 500h.

One bad thing in that airline is the technical conditions of aircrafts. Not good at all but at least something is happening and you get XP.

AerViva is the best broker if you go with them. I was with Confair, I left.

Just for reference selling a week at my company would result in total pay of over €6000 for an FO, so you may want to reconsider what is not bad. I did ACMI so I know how bad it is but please know you are being taken for a ride.

Wow. Talk about low expectations! Obviously it all depends on where in the world you come from and live! But this is low as f@ck terms!

One hell of a ride - yes. European "problem" with too many wannabee instagram pilots. Amazing.

your reasoning shows exactly why aviation in Europe is totally fuc@ed.

Selling off days means that you won't get a rest that you need. If you are flying a regular roster, with acceptable hours and enough rest, maybe that's can be tolerated for a while. But if you are flying on minimum rest, with sleep deprivation because of your roster, and interruption from crew control because they decide that better than a midday flight you will have an early morning flight, then off days are essential. And they don't think that, they only travel for weekends on Ibiza, and they are not aware of the difficulties of a 20 hours travels with connecting flight, moving two big cases (you need then as you are living other country for a month (but they will only pay for one) and the flight bag.

Life in this company can be very hard on you, without your family (null help to flight them to your base), eleven months a year living in hotels and eating out, and being sent to anywhere in the world where they decided you could be needed other country for a month).But they will offer you 100 euros for taking off your Off days.

As far as I know, nobody has been forced to fly for them, neither to stay in Europe. We are all grown men able to take the right decision:-D !

Initial post is about the contract. I replied.

Anyway, I'm glad for all of you with your off week at 10k€ and all your advantages in your jobs, so am I to fly for an ACMI 24/7. Again, comparing apple and bananas... We dont look for the same thing, therefore it's poitnless to argue with random anonymous guys on internet.

For those of you who want answers from inside, feel free to PM.

please identify yourself first. You are anonym as much as we are.For sure we cannot compare apples and bananas as you are flying for peanuts 🥜 with b…Sh.t terms and conditions .
how much is your bonus if you get someone hired..

You can say whatever you want this company is and will remain the bottom feeder in this industry.

With drug and alcohol addicted latvians at the command !!!

To be honest dude, I don’t really care about your opinion about who I’m flying for or even about what I’m doing… You can easily know who I am if you know how to use google.

Slx suits me, not you, end of the story ;-). Judging by the PM received I’m not the only one to be interested. Have a nice day ;-)

If a pilot on these contracts call in sick when not fit to fly, how is it handled by the company? Does the pilot deal directly with Smartlynx or with a representative for Aerviva? Does the pilot accumulate any kind of sickpay bank which can be drawn upon if he/she comes down with the flu? Does the pilot receive compensation from SmartLynx or the contract agency (which is obviously run and controlled by SLX)?

Ice033, Do you currently fly for Smartlynx? Is it possible to contact you via pm to get some better inside info?

Yes I am currently flying for them and yes you can send a PM.

For a while no message in the group. How is the prospect for the future? Has things improved comparing to 2022 (in terms of treatment to the pilots but not money)? If you happen to join now can you pre-agreed some bases to secure it if you live close by on this base? I heard it was the case in the past that they were sending away a German pilots who is living in Nuremberg while they were having Nuremberg base or Belgian guy living in Belgium out of Brussels base? Is that still the case or they started to make more logical choice in terms of base selection?

Not really judging by the crazy turnover this month especially on FO side. They are struggling a lot to find people to fly in India which is the main base for this winter (BOM, BLR and soon DEL). 10/15 aircrafts in total but as for now, the money is quite good and you are all inclusive. They are increasing slowly but surely the salary (as for now around 6200€/month for FO < 500h, with double or triple off day removed meaning 1100€ (triple) a day for CP and 470€ for FO > 500h. You can make up to 10k/month as a FO if you don't go home.

About bases, I don't think you can agree something but they try to make logicial choices yes.

Come again about the devil's rates for selling a day off?

No judgment but the wider audience needs to know what the par is.

What do you wanna know ? What is the par, I don't understand. ORO is mostly doubled or tripled menaing 1100€ for a CP and 470€ for a FO > 500h. What is unclear ?

Eh??? I'm on a WA group where they are still winging about €300 for Captains

Ok so let me rephrase : in India, as there is a lack of pilots, they are offering betweend double and triple ORO :

- CP ORO = 250€
- ORO x2 = 500€
- ORO x3 = 750€
- Per diem CP = 310€

500 + 310 = 810 or in India = 750 + 310 = 1060. My bad, it's 40€ less than what I said.

And ORO is?

Not sure but same as a Day Off Payment (DOP)

Anyone from B737 fleet in Smartlynx who can share current inside info? Contract type (Dubai?). Pay. Upgrade. Bases. Atmosphere in the company etc.

T I A

you are still flying for them right now?. Im a captain and has interested join them

A320-330 smartlynx bases
 

Hi
I am interested to apply at SLX.
Can anyone tell me what bases I have to expect .
Is it possible to choose?
Thanks for any input

As far as I know bases in India, Nigeria and Turkey (SAW). Not sure you are able to choose, India and Nigeria are extra paid

- Aeroviva (extended hand of all Baltic ACMI)
- Nothing special for the risk you are taking
- Sometimes I think we are flying for Qatar
- SAW and lets say 3 bases in Germany, for the summer
- Highly toxic

Fourth company now and I’ve never seen a bought day off go for less than 400€ (that was 2014 in a European 737 charter/low-cost). Current company the payment is 700€ for FOs and 1100€ for captains per day. And this is still low-cost.
So reconsider what’s good or bad. 200€ doesn’t even cover a return ticket/hotel/food.

In addition to selling your rest time, there is another side of the coin. It would be really nice if the pilots talking about money mentioned what else they have to do that's not legal. Let's say, how much radioactive material is transported on flights in India, and what response do colleagues who raise their voice against this abuse get?
What is the calculacted ratio between money vs. radioactivity received?

It's not all about money.

Hi guys, does anyone know if Smartlynx is still flying for ezy from gatwick? or that contract’s gone? thanks!

Long gone, thank god. It was a shambles.

I imagined it wouldn’t last…. who’s flying for ezy nowadays? or they are not using any acmi for the season?

Titan?

No ACMI this summer, or last summer. Such was the debacle of summer 2022 at LGW, easyJet finally realised that their reputation was taking a hammering - daresay their bank balance did too, with all the compensation. We also used a few Avion Express in 2022 and they were pretty reliable.

At LGW, Titan are doing a few flights for TUI.

As the old adage goes Apron Artist, pay peanuts, get ________

Jet2, Easy and even TUI have learned the hard way. Eastern European ACMIs only make a profit because of horrible employment practices and scant maintenance on their aircraft. During the season of S22, SLX had 2 aircraft which STORM engineers said were rejected by BA due to corrosion and APU oil leaks. Easy and TUI knew that but licked their lips at the low ball offer.