Wizz Air has had a busy month across the United Kingdom. Just last week, it announced expansion at London Luton after a notable slot acquisition process. This revelation followed the launch of its Cardiff Airport base and an expansion at Gatwick Airport with 18 new routes. The low-cost carrier will need the right personnel for this activity. With this in mind, Simple Flying caught up with Marion Geoffroy, Managing Director of Wizz Air UK, about her airline’s requirement strategy.
Pay rise
Wizz Air UK has held over 10 cabin crew recruitment events over the last two months. The carrier is looking for enthusiastic flight attendants to join its growing team, with both experienced individuals and fresh faces welcome.
Amid this rise in employee demand matching an increase in flight frequencies, Wizz Air UK recently implemented its largest-ever salary upgrade in the UK.
Junior attendants can expect a basic salary of £18,000 with on target earnings including variable pay reaching £23,450. Meanwhile, attendants with at least 10 months of experience can expect an annual salary of £20,489, with on target earnings including variable pay reaching £26,480. Moreover, senior attendants can expect a salary of £21,887, scaling up to £33,850 taking on target earnings including variable pay into account.
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Broader growth
It’s not only cabin crew that are sought after. Wizz Air is also looking for new pilots to join new fleet additions. Notably, two Airbus A321neos joined the UK fleet in the last few weeks, and more are expected to arrive this year. As a result, captains and first officers are in high demand.
Geoffroy shared the following with Simple Flying:
“We're still recruiting because we will receive new aircraft during the summer, and we are recruiting for those aircraft. We are recruiting pilots and cabin crew. We have recruitment events every week for cabin crew, so they can check on our website. The candidates only need to register, and they can come up to an event where the selection process will start. With the announced salary shift for flight attendants, we changed the structure of the salary itself, and we increased the salary.”
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Return to optimism
Geoffroy added that these two measures generated considerable interest in crew positions. Altogether, salary is an essential element, but Wizz Air’s leadership believes the fact that carriers are back in the air is also very important because the sector somewhat lost its attractiveness during the last two years due to the pandemic and the uncertainty surrounding it.
Staff working for airlines all across the world faced challenges, deterring several candidates. Nonetheless, Wizz notes that the industry is starting to ease out of this period and is in a chapter of recovery. Overall, people are trusting aviation again after hitting the skies and seeing all the activity in person. The demand is there. Subsequently, Wizz concludes that those working in aviation will come back to the industry, and those recently taking an interest will simply join the family.
What are your thoughts about Wizz Air UK’s recruitment strategy? What do you make of the overall initiatives in this scene? Let us know what you think of the carrier and its operations in the comment section.