Wizz Air

[Pontyboy]

There does seem to be a race to the bottom regarding salaries for cabin crew. BA can vouch for that. Not sure what the Wizz salary is but I hope it’s a liveable salary. I spoke to a Bristol based Jet2 cabin manager on the off chance in the Cotswolds and he was paid very well with lots of cabin crew moving to Jet2 because of the much better rewards.

 

[Jerry]

There does seem to be a race to the bottom regarding salaries for cabin crew. BA can vouch for that. Not sure what the Wizz salary is but I hope it’s a liveable salary. I spoke to a Bristol based Jet2 cabin manager on the off chance in the Cotswolds and he was paid very well with lots of cabin crew moving to Jet2 because of the much better rewards.

I've heard the figure £20,000 a year has been mentioned elsewhere. With the pandemic and the Jet2 base there might be a shortage of potential recruits not just for Wizz.

 

[Foxlimayankee]

I've heard the figure £20,000 a year has been mentioned elsewhere. With the pandemic and the Jet2 base there might be a shortage of potential recruits not just for Wizz.

If that's the base salary, that's pretty good. Virgin Atlantic pay less than that I believe. The money is topped up by flight pay, per flight then.

CWL may be in a better position as there's a number of TCX and BE cabin crew that were made redundant that would likely want to get back flying. Jet2 probably took on a lot of TCX BRS crews.

 

[aviatorconcorde]

They have probably struggled to recruit, like lots of industries. Some may have left from the original intake before the base opening was delayed. They have a huge base at Luton so I imagine any shortages are being covered by crew from other bases until CWL is fully recruited. I wouldn't get too excited about it being further expansion just yet.

i’m not surprised if they’re only offering 21k per year - no night stops either so no prospect of seeing the world - it’s literally there and back.

 

[Jerry]

i’m not surprised if they’re only offering 21k per year - no night stops either so no prospect of seeing the world - it’s literally there and back.

Tbf that's probably the job for most cabin crew.

 

[aviatorconcorde]

Tbf that's probably the job for most cabin crew.

I think it’s the same at Easyjet. BA i know they mix between long haul and short haul with the short haul doing a lot of there and backs but night stops too.

 

[Jerry]

The airport has posted a video of the Wizz launch on social media

https://twitter.com/x/status/1515011445712379913

 

[Nuffsaid]

Does anybody have an idea of what the loads on the Wizz flights have been like over the Easter?

 

[Jerry]

Overhead Wizz being talked about at my local shop just earlier. One of the cashier's had recently flown with them to Alicante and gave them a positive review to the lady who asked about 'that new airline at Cardiff'.

 

[geoff]

Travel Weekly on line reporting that WIZZ operated 54% more flights in April with 83% load factor, due to the opening of the CWL base, and obtaining extra two pairs of slots at Luton, which were previously used by Vueling.

 

[Jarvo]

Flew Wizz from CWL to Alicante this week. Both the outbound and return were a good 80% capacity with most people having checked luggage, cabin bags and seat selection so I imagine they're doing very well financially on that route. Plenty of in-flight drinks too. Strangely for the alicante flight it left on Tuesday just before a Vueling to the same destination, and the faro leg after my return was competing with a FR to Faro. Very odd scheduling.
The FR from faro arrived just after our return flight and I counted an easy 170 coming through out of the 189 capacity of their 737 while i was waiting for a taxi. It's true what they say... Put the cheap seats on sale and they'll come!


Many, many english accents on board.. either students and workers in cardiff wanting a cheap getaway or the word is spreading. A fair few spanish speaking family reunions in arrivals so not entirely one way traffic either.

 

[Pontyboy]

Flew Wizz from CWL to Alicante this week. Both the outbound and return were a good 80% capacity with most people having checked luggage, cabin bags and seat selection so I imagine they're doing very well financially on that route. Plenty of in-flight drinks too. Strangely for the alicante flight it left on Tuesday just before a Vueling to the same destination, and the faro leg after my return was competing with a FR to Faro. Very odd scheduling.
The FR from faro arrived just after our return flight and I counted an easy 170 coming through out of the 189 capacity of their 737 while i was waiting for a taxi. It's true what they say... Put the cheap seats on sale and they'll come!


Many, many english accents on board.. either students and workers in cardiff wanting a cheap getaway or the word is spreading. A fair few spanish speaking family reunions in arrivals so not entirely one way traffic either.

Sounds like Wizz are doing well. It’s a fair point you make about 2 flights to the same destination within an hour or two of eachother but I think if you look at the wider picture, especially Bristol timings for these flights, then they are competing with those too. This way it offers flights at CWL which are an alternative to Bristol and gives Welsh punters a cheap flight as both airlines need to keep ticket prices competitive to win business. It may look strange but it’s good for the passenger; more choice and better prices.

 

[Jerry]

Sounds like Wizz are doing well. It’s a fair point you make about 2 flights to the same destination within an hour or two of eachother but I think if you look at the wider picture, especially Bristol timings for these flights, then they are competing with those too. This way it offers flights at CWL which are an alternative to Bristol and gives Welsh punters a cheap flight as both airlines need to keep ticket prices competitive to win business. It may look strange but it’s good for the passenger; more choice and better prices.

These may be the most popular days for those flights, originally PMI, ALC and FAO were scheduled on Sundays and Thursdays but Wizz swapped the scheduling around so they operated on Tuesdays and Saturdays. I believe that the airport stated that 80% or 85% overall load factor is their goal?
I did see a post on social media the other day though stating that the previous Friday night return from Tenerife only had 54 passengers on so that was a bit disappointing to see but i guess that a part of this will be a learning curve for Wizz.

 

[Jerry]

Looks like the based aircraft G-WUKK may have gone tech and a replacement from Gatwick G-WUKC will operate Lanzarote.
View attachment 25897

 

[MrFenner]

Looks like issue resolved, whatever happened! WUKC gone off to DSA, WUKK just left for ACE...

 

[Jerry]

Looks like issue resolved, whatever happened! WUKC gone off to DSA, WUKK just left for ACE...

Might have brought an engineer then rather than be an actual replacement?

 

[Pontyboy]

Crew apparently

 

[Jarvo]

Crew apparently

I know that operationally this has to happen from time to time, but an airline that mainly pushes its green credentials, flying a flight from London to Cardiff to move crew is shocking

 

[Jerry]

It was either that or cancel the flight. Tbh I think it was quite a quick reaction and as i believe the aircraft went to DSA afterwards the aircraft may have been due to position to DSA anyway and just went via Cardiff.

 

[Pontyboy]

I know that operationally this has to happen from time to time, but an airline that mainly pushes its green credentials, flying a flight from London to Cardiff to move crew is shocking

You either put them in a car which would take 4+ hours which could then put the crew already on the plane out of hours and the subsequent cancelled flight on the return leg. I think they reacted well and were committed to getting that plane off the tarmac. Other airlines wouldn’t have been so forth coming imo