Shortly after the start of the corona pandemic in Europe, the Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air cut some pilot positions at the Vienna-Schwechat location. Now, in a press release, the pilots of the competitor Austrian Airlines are calling for an application for an A320 cockpit position.

The focus is on pilots who have a valid type rating for the Airbus A320 series and obviously they are looking specifically at pilots from competitor Austrian Airlines. There are apparently no bonuses for signing the contract. In the aftermath of the bankruptcies of Air Berlin and Niki, the Lufthansa Group, but also Laudamotion, Wizz Air and other carriers, paid captains up to 15.000 euros for the mere contractual obligation. In the meantime, the market has changed - also due to the corona pandemic - so that there are more pilots than vacancies. A few years ago it was exactly the opposite.

“We are looking for new pilots to meet our ambitious post-pandemic growth plans! The competitor at the Vienna location is reducing employees by the number - we would like to address them, especially AUA pilots, specifically and encourage them to apply to us. We at WIZZ are proud of the excellent opportunities, the competitive salaries and the remuneration and social benefits package that is available to our flight crew as well as the flexible and fixed duty rosters that enable a better work-life balance ", says Heiko Holm, Chief Wizz Air Operations Office.

It remains to be seen whether the Hungarian low-cost airline can induce AUA pilots to switch to the pink Airbus jets on a grand scale or whether it is more of a PR measure. In winter, Wizz Air mostly only paid the flying staff the basic salary, as many of them never got to fly. The lion's share of the monthly wage consists of sector-dependent payments. To put it simply: if you fly a lot, you get more wages and if you fly less, you get less. In the crisis this was not exactly beneficial for the staff.