Covid-19-related redundancies at Wizz Air “dangerously influenced” flight safety culture, a whistleblower has claimed, after the way in which staff were selected for redundancy left them worried to call in sick.
Last April London-listed Wizz Air laid off around 1,000 staff – around 20 per cent of its workforce – after a travel shutdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic put financial pressure on the group.
Pilots based in Austria, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania were made redundant last April, with the majority of redundancies from Hungary.
Despite the redundancies, the budget carrier is bracing itself for a net loss of up to €590m for the full financial year. However, Wizz said it still had €1.6bn in cash, having taken a number of steps to shore up its finances over the last quarter.
Read more: Wizz Air dives to €590m loss as wait for recovery goes on
A Wizz Air pilot told City A.M. that the basis for layoffs “dangerously influenced” flight safety culture across the Wizz Air Group.
“People have been and are being pressured to work while sick, fatigued or extended duty periods in fear of sacking,” they said. “It is unacceptable and breaches regulations designed to ensure flight safety.”