Wizz Air is changing its growth plans. What does it mean for your assessment?

One of the things we tend to look at when choosing an airline is how much it plans to grow.

More aircraft, more destinations, more crew. And for someone waiting to enter aviation, more possibilities.

But between an aircraft order and your first day in uniform there are several decisions. Where will the aircraft fly? From which base? When will the company need the crew?

Wizz Air gives us a useful example.

On 17 September, the airline set out a target of 335 aircraft by financial year 2030, with a 10% operating margin and a renewed focus on Central and Eastern Europe and selected growth markets. Reuters Breakingviews puts the previous expectation at around 450 aircraft by 2030 under the broader “Wizz 500” ambition. 

The plan is smaller than before. It still involves growth from the 269 aircraft reported in Wizz’s announcement. 

Let’s see what this could mean for people applying, and for the people selecting them. These are possible recruitment consequences; the announcement does not establish a new assessment process.

1. Fewer new positions than expected. But recruitment can continue.

Imagine a candidate who chooses an airline because they expect many new bases and fast promotion.

If expansion slows, some of those opportunities may arrive later, or in a different place. There could be fewer vacancies created by growth than under the previous plan.

However, an airline also recruits to replace people who leave and to cover the needs of individual bases. A smaller expansion plan can coexist with recruitment events.

For the candidate, the useful question becomes more specific: which base is recruiting, and what is the expected joining date?

An open day tells you there is a selection opportunity. You still need to understand what follows it.

2. A more sustainable pace can have a positive side.

Rapid growth looks attractive from outside. Inside the airline, it requires instructors, training places, experienced crew and managers who can support the people arriving.
A more manageable pace could give those teams more room to plan. If the strategy improves profitability, it could also put future recruitment on a firmer footing.
For someone starting a career, that matters. You want to join, of course, but you also want the company to be able to support the operation you are joining.
These benefits depend on the plan working. A financial target by itself cannot promise a stable roster, a particular base or a promotion date.

3. Competition may change even if the assessment looks familiar.

Suppose a base has fewer positions available while receiving the same number of suitable applications.
Competition becomes stronger. The company could continue using the same assessment activities and still offer places to a smaller proportion of candidates.
We should be careful here: this is a possible consequence, not evidence that Wizz has made its assessments harder.
For candidates, my advice would be to make their abilities easier to observe. In a group exercise, that means listening, contributing something useful and helping the group progress. In an interview, it means explaining a real example clearly enough for the recruiter to understand your part in it.
Saying “I am a team player” gives the other person very little to assess. Describing how you worked with someone when things became difficult gives them something to work with.

4. Passing and joining are two different moments.

A candidate may perform well while the airline is still adjusting its staffing requirements.

If recruitment runs ahead of confirmed training places, the wait between selection and joining could become longer. That possibility deserves attention from both sides of the table.

Candidates need to understand whether they have a confirmed offer, a place in a candidate pool or further conditions to complete. Recruitment teams need to explain those differences clearly.

For the person waiting at home, an unclear email can affect rent, another job offer and plans to move country. Clear communication has a very practical value here.

5. Location may become more important.

With growth concentrated in selected markets, opportunities may be uneven across the network.

Being able and willing to relocate could widen a candidate’s options, subject to the relevant employment requirements. But willingness needs to be real.

Before saying “I can move anywhere”, consider the cost of living, accommodation and how you would organise your life there. A base has to work for you after the excitement of being selected has passed.

For academies, this is also part of preparing someone properly: helping them understand the life attached to the vacancy.

And what do we do with this information?

We use it to ask better questions.

Wizz’s revised plan gives candidates a reason to look closely at the base, the timing and the conditions of an opportunity. It gives recruiters and academies a reason to be precise about expectations.

At QrewMentor, this is part of what we mean by Stop Preparing Blindly. Your preparation should take account of your own profile and the opportunity you are pursuing.

Read beyond the fleet number. Understand where you could fit. And when something is unclear, ask.

Until then, may you find peaceful skies.

Enrique
QrewMentor Team