Wizz Air is reducing frequencies on a number of its destinations in the former Yugoslavia until early to mid-October due to a lack of available crew. The airline will primarily be reducing frequencies by one flight per week, leaving a number routes operating with just one weekly rotation. The airline is addressing the crew shortage issue by launching an urgent recruitment drive in Skopje, Belgrade, Sarajevo and Tuzla. It has also arranged ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance) leases in order to secure a sufficient number of crew members. Aircraft remain available with a number yet to be returned to the fleet. Airlines such as GetJet, Titan Airways and HiFly have been operating Wizz Air flights.
Services from Skopje, Belgrade, Sarajevo, Tuzla, Banja Luka, Split, Dubrovnik and Ohrid have all been affected. From Skopje, the airline is reducing frequencies on flights to Barcelona, Berlin, Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Hanover, Nuremberg, Skavsta, Vaxjo and Turku. Routes impacted by the crew shortage from Belgrade include Basel, Heraklion, Larnaca and Santorini. From Sarajevo the airline is reducing frequencies to Beauvais and has cancelled plans to launch operations to London Luton but earlier this week announced the stationing of a second aircraft in the city from mid-December. Furthermore, the carrier has slashed frequencies from Tuzla to Baden Baden, Memmingen and Vienna. From Banja Luka, services to Eindhoven have been reduced, while flights from Ohrid to Vienna have also been decreased. The airline’s frequency cuts have also affected its operations on the Croatian coast with frequencies from Split to Dortmund, Gdansk, Luton, Rome and Vienna being downgraded while cuts from Dubrovnik include Vienna and Warsaw.
The crew shortage issue comes as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Wizz Air laid off a number of cabin crew at its bases last year, including those in the former Yugoslavia. However, it also offered voluntary redundancies, which had a significantly higher staff uptake than the the number of those affected by the layoffs themselves. This is because Wizz Air’s crew wages are generated in large part from on board sales and other performance-related tasks, which were low or non-existent for most of 2020 and part of 2021 due to Covid-19 and a significantly reduced duty schedule. As a result, crew members were left with basic salary income, forcing many to look for work elsewhere.
Wow I can't believe they were this unprepared for the summer.
ReplyDeleteJV thought you could fire 25% of your staff in a highly regulated industry and still emerge as a "winner" of the pandemic.
DeleteSome excellent management there.
I think he was disillusioned enough to think that people would rush back to work for Wizz Air. Obviously people have moved on. I know some crew that works in hotels now for better money, less stress and better conditions.
DeleteYes. As I hear for BiH payment for airhostess payment is 1200KM (last than 600 Euro). Don't know is it true.
DeleteWizz Air wet leasing planes. Crazy.
ReplyDeleteAnd just because of crew
DeleteThe real reason is passenger numbers aren't as high as they planned for!
ReplyDeleteNo, the real reason is in actual fact there being not enough crew.
DeleteFriend of mine just returned from Santorini, flight was full in both directions.
DeletePoor planning.
ReplyDeleteThey are a mess. In TIA there is a 90% chance that your flight will have a minimum delay of 1-2 hours. They have had to divert multiple times from BGY to MXP or from CIA to FCO because they miss their slots. A lot of people are starting to avoid them.
ReplyDeleteTheir on time performance in Belgrade is very bad though I think their ground handlers are the problem. Very often they come on time but leave with a 45 minute delay.
DeleteThey started well in SJJ this morning, an hour delay on the first flight out. Bravo.
DeleteAnon 09:16 At first i thought that ground handling might be the issue here as well, but all other airlines have great on time performances, including Air Albania and Albawings which have up to 10 flights a day.
DeleteSorry I meant their ground handlers in BEG, they are managed by SkyTeam or whatever they are called. I don't think they are doing a good job.
DeleteHow do you screw up your first departure of the day?? I checked beg.aero and their HER flight was delayed by almost an hour (08.40/09.28)
DeleteThere could be numerous issues. Air traffic congestion, passengers having issues with Covid documentation (I was personally on a Wizz flight delayed by an hour because passengers airport staff didn't want to let them board because they had an antigen test instead of PCR test) and so on.
DeleteOr crews not having enough rest from the previous day...
DeleteThey do need their beauty sleep
Delete@15:11
DeleteYeah, tell me about it. They can work for 12 hours straight and then they want to rest? What a bunch of lazy people, right? #sarcasmoff
What I mean is that they need their beauty sleep to look good when they come to work in their uniforms :)
DeleteTIA is a mess because the airport is just too small to accommodate that number of passengers. There are not enough stairs, push back trucks, buses etc. You just cannot board 4 full A321 within 15 minutes + few others (Austrian, Lufthansa, Albawings...) with 3 buses. On top of that you are dealing with Albanians, they just don't follow any rules...
DeleteI guess many found better jobs and did not want to return to work for them. Not surprised, very bad working conditions.
ReplyDeleteThey also cancelled Dubrovnik to Rome flights.
ReplyDeleteThey will close two bases (Dortmund and Riga) in October too, although Wizz want to keep it quiet. Glorious announcements are only made when they open bases, closures are not communicated.
DeleteWell you would have to have a very dumb PR team that would suggest communicating and publicizing base closures.
DeleteAs in communicating your business decisions honestly and promptly as a publicly listed company and letting your customers know what will happen to the flights they plan to use? That would be pure dumbness.
DeleteGuys this is really not ok.
ReplyDeleteWhat a mess.
ReplyDeleteSadly, this SKP-VXO route had a bumpy start from the very beginning and kinda notorious route. Let's see what happens next.
ReplyDelete"Notorious" lol
DeleteThis was already obvious in June, they were changing their timetable almost every week. One week it was morning flight, next weel late afternoon and next week late evening. Real mess
ReplyDeleteUnfortunate
ReplyDeleteThat explains why a Spicejet livery plane operated by Hifhly was flying a Wizz Air route out of Skopje.
ReplyDeleteHopefully soon we get a regular SpiceJet but on a flight from DEL :)
DeleteExpected Wizz to be better prepared and more serious.
ReplyDeleteThey never were a serious business.
DeleteNot surprised. They laid off crew, haven't hired new ones yet they keep opening new routes and bases. I know people from BEG base were offered months ago to transfer to other bases, only for them then to open new routes from BEG.
ReplyDeleteThe headless chicken effect.
DeleteFor once, Ljubljana not impacted :D
ReplyDeleteThere was nothing to impact
DeleteTouché
DeleteThere is Charleroi
DeleteTheir management consists of experienced western people pulling huge compensation and bonuses while their office staff are youngsters hired from the street without any experience whatsoever as they are the only ones willing to work for peanuts. Maybe it should be the other way around and then they wouldn't be the laughing stock of the aviation industry now.
ReplyDeleteMost people commenting here concentrate on how little they pay (basic salary) to FAs, without thinking what they pay to other crew. And what they pay to the other crew is more than what that crew would earn in other airlines in that part of Europe.
ReplyDeleteThe only problem is that that crew cannot move to them because Wizzair flies bigger planes.
Wizz Air was always recruiting people from turboprops even for direct entry captain positions, so that argument is false.
Deleteanon 14:04
DeleteIsn't that the normal course of events that people from turboprops or general aviation move to B737 rather than total newcommers?
Still those people have to invest in the upgrade and most importantly that requires TIME, so cannot address needs that just materialised at Wizz.
Crew at OU earns much more than their colleagues at FR and W6.
Delete@Anon 14:54: There is nearly no general aviation in Europe to speak of, so a lot of people go straight from flight school to A320/B737.
DeleteEven if I never get another job as a pilot, I would't touch this disgusting outfit. Horrible working conditions and appaling employee-management relations. To any unemployed pilot thinking of joining, I say this: find something else. Outside aviation. I did and everything is alright.
ReplyDeleteA captain at Wizzair earns multiple times more than people commenting here. Stop inventing these stories.
DeleteAnd what exaclty is "multiple times". As an engineer, I earn 2.5k (pocket money, no expenses since I'm working from home). Captain at Wizz in SKP earns 4,5k (on a busy month). However, one needs to deduct housing and travel expenses, since most of the guys are commuting (unfortunately, not all get the base they want). As I said, steer clear of these clowns.
DeleteNow let's hear your story.
Commuting is a personal choice, if you live in the base, there's no extra housing/travel expenses. Not to mention that a lot of pilots use Wizz as a steppin stone in their careers, get some hours on the A320 and move on to airlines which pay much more and have better conditions.
DeleteBwahaha, stepping stone. To where? Mars?
DeleteMaybe you haven't heard, but there is one tiny problem that goes by the name COVID-19. Forget about Emirates or China and enjoy your life in Kutaisi, Chisinau or some other luxurious destination. I'm sure your familiy will understand your "personal" choice not to commute and your children will be grateful that you gave them the opportunity to learn Moldovian or Georgian.
As I said before, stay away from these crokks. This isn't stepping stone anymore, since there is no place to step to afterwards.
DeleteSo let me get this clear, you were a pilot and now all of a sudden you're a qualified engineer working from home? Baby, you were never a pilot to begin with, maybe just an FSX armchair captain or cabin crew in the Middle East. Go back to your sad life in Skopje.
DeleteHahah, what an ahole. Are you by any chance a Wizz fanboy?
DeleteSome of us actually knew the risks of job (in)security in aviation and actually had a backup plan for times like these.
Were did I state I live SKP? For your info, I used to be/am a captain and know a tad bit more about the industry than you.
And no, it wasn't all of a sudden. It took me 5 years to get the engineering degree.
DeleteWizz is still a stepping stone, job market will recover.
DeleteGet an A320 rating, some hours and stay current, while you can job hunt. Beats sitting at home looking at all the job ads requiring X hours in last 12 months.
Calm down Captain, time to do the approach briefing, yeah? You shouldn't fake being a pilot because one day you might run into a real pilot in these comments, like today for example. Come on, dazzle me with your knowledge of the industry, let me hear what I've been missing all these years.
DeleteOK. Here it comes, first hand experience. As new Captain in notorious SKP I was earning double of that 4.5k a months on low season and double that and more on high season. And that was after tax. Expenses in SKP are so low that less than 800€ goes on expenses per month when you eat in restaurants only and commute 1000 km 3x a month with own car. On top of that you get tax return, tad late, but done by company without any involment that comes per year larger than best salary you made. So I take rain check on Dubai and Hong Kong where you spend much more and earn some more.
DeleteWow, you were earning 9k during low season (and double that) 18k during high season? Sure beats KLM and Air France (or maybe on par).
DeleteWell, my info came from an experienced cpt, albeit new to the company (info is 2 months old).
@13:16
Do you mind sharing your background? We wouldn't want to discuss aviation with someone who never worked a day in the industry, would we?
@13:15
DeleteAnd how long does that take (looking at all those jobs)? 5 seconds?
I'm not sure if you guys are for real or just trolling. But you sure didn't work one day as pilots.
@Anon 13:15 Bruh you're tripping if you think paying for your own TR is a smart idea. That's what they tell kids with 150 hours straight out of integrated. Never do that, it will almost never land you a job, it will just put you in debt.
Delete@Anon 13:54 Dude, I call bull on that story. No way in a million years they'd make that amount of money. Maybe in two months, as a line training captain. Please stop.
@Anon 14:53 And we're back to the wannabe captain. Worked as a flight attendant and I'm currently an FO. So your info comes from other pilots, because you yourself have never set foot in the cockpit. My info comes from my own bank statement. Keep reading forums, you might learn something.
@16:40
DeleteIt's sad that we agree on most things (the first two points), yet you are unable to have an adult conversation (perhaps you're still young since you are an FO). Think what you will, I've been in aviation since 2009) starting as a FI, working my way up to become a CPT and then COVID hit). I'm not sure why it's comes as such a surprise to you that I got an engineering degree during flight training. I knew that one day it I might lose my job as a pilot, hence I needed a back up plan. I could have lost my Class 1 medical and it would have been the same.
No need to be arrogant, you still have a long way to go before being entitled to be a smartarse.
Well, in my times, there was quite acid people in office/locals, yes tiny percent, but it was enough like a peace of shit in ice cream, so you dont want to eat it, even if ice cream s delicious 😬
ReplyDeleteJust check their website. 65 open positions (all different jobs) listed. 65 tasks which is done by not enough (or no) people. No wonder Wizz is disfunctional.
ReplyDeleteMany times companies advertise non-existing jobs. It is part of marketing: "Look, competition we are busy and doing very well"
DeleteIt is all part of bla-bla PR.
But the the root cause is dysfunctional debt based financial system that is running out of steam. Wizzair like any other company operates inside that system so has to deal with it. I am not defending them but just explaining what is happening.
Look someone mentioned abovethey are paying 600 Euros in Bosnia for FA. Somewhere I have read few months ago that Ryanair is paying 800 euros in Wiena for flight attendants!!!Hey in Wiena.
With 600 euros in Bosnia you could could get by if you live with parents etc.
In Austria with 800 euros you are bellow poverty line. Yo are on the street. Shame.
The whole financial system is circling down the drain.
The 600-800 EUR story could be true.
DeleteFew years ago, I heard that Nordica is paying Scandinavia based Estonian senior FA 700 EUR, while their Scandinavian colleague at the same flight get 3500 EUR before tax/2500 EUR netto, as they are under SAS contract. At the same flight! Imagine how the senior FA with 30 years experience must feel!
Nordica always was and always will be a bottom of the bottoms, they simply look for people who have no other options and start crank their hands all the way back :)
DeleteI don't understand this airline sometimes with them radical changes.
ReplyDeleteThey failed in Norway and Salzburg. Now, it seems that here in the Balkana as well. This means that their A321XLR will most likely not be used in the region.
How did they "fail in the Balkans". Have you seen how many routes they have launched in the region? Also your statement shows you haven't bothered to read the article. I understand you dislike them but your comment is pure nonsense.
DeleteDisaster performance in Belgrade today. Everything delayed, even AUH.
ReplyDeleteTheir NYO flight will arrive after 03.00 in stead of around midnight.