AviationCV.com: An airline’s bankruptcy doesn’t necessarily mean unemployment for the crew

Despite desperately seeking for ways to avoid bankruptcy, in February 2012 the Hungarian air carrier Malev was ordered by the court to start company’s liquidation. As a result, about 200 carrier’s pilots were left without work. However, increasing financial turbulence for some airlines doesn’t necessarily spell hard times for their pilots.

As soon as Malev Hungarian Airlines were declared insolvent, other European market players started planning route and flight expansions in order to occupy the newly deserted Hungarian market, which had served almost 9 million passengers in 2011. The same trend is likely to appear in other countries with similar situations, for example, in Spain with both Spanair which ceased all its operations in January and Iberia which had faced major flight cancelations in previous months due to pilot strikes.

‘The airline industry is very dynamic. Should one carrier withdraw from a market, another will certainly appear in its place short-after. With Malev and Spanair out of the picture, other air carriers from the region, especially the low-cost ones, commenced vigorous activities to increase their share in the market,’ commented the CEO of AviationCV.com Skaiste Knyzaite.

Fortunately, fierce competition within the airline industry is pilots’ security blanket. Replacing a bankrupted rival or intensifying the flight schedule – in both cases airlines are in need of a sufficient number of additional crew members to operate the extended fleet and route expansion. For that reason, pilots, who have lost their jobs due to airlines going bust, are likely to face minimum downtimes.

‘Regardless whether it is Europe, America or Asia – everywhere the industry is experiencing the shortage of skillful pilots and other crew members. That is why the market itself won’t allow keeping an experienced crew without work for a long time. However, since many airlines prefer either to conduct screenings in partnership with recruitment agencies or hire a crew directly through them, it is up to pilots and flight attendants to raise their employment possibilities. Whether they do have a job at the moment or not, having his or hers CV listed on a recruitment agency’s data base will naturally insure better job opportunities, especially if you wish to try yourself in different countries or even different regions, ’ concluded Skaiste Knyzaite.