Wizz Air, forced by the courts to rehire pilots fired during the pandemic, in Bucharest and Cluj
Airbus A320 aircraft of the Wizz Air company. Illustrative photo. Photo source: Dreamstime.com
The courts in Romania have decided definitively that the Wizz Air pilots from the bases in Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca were fired illegally during the pandemic, and the company must rehire them, according to the specialized publication BoardingPass.
The decisions concern pilots fired during the COVID-19 pandemic and are based on court rulings handed down as far back as 2021, which have remained final. The courts found that the low-cost airline's reasons for the layoffs were illegal.
According to FPU Romania, the union that represented the pilots in court, Wizz Air is obliged to start the re-employment procedure. The union considers this step “a necessary step to repair a deeply unjust situation”.
According to the cited source, the judges found clear violations of the law, and elements of discrimination were also identified in a separate file, a case that is still pending before the High Court of Cassation and Justice.
FPU Romania shows that re-employment should not be treated as a new career start, but as a return to the situation existing before the dismissal, with the preservation of seniority, professional rights and career continuity.
From a legal point of view, the effect of the court's decisions is that the employment relationship is considered uninterrupted, and the company has the obligation to fully repair the consequences of illegal dismissals.
The union has officially requested to be involved in all stages of this process, along with legal advisors, to ensure that the procedures comply with Romanian and European legislation, as well as the company's internal rules.
The representatives of the fired pilots say that they are not looking to escalate the conflict with the airline, but to carry out a fair, transparent and good-faith re-employment, which will provide clarity and predictability to all involved.
Wizz Air laid off around 1,000 employees (19%) of its total workforce in April 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic began, but continued to expand with more than 15 new bases, adding at least 10 new aircraft and conducting a massive recruitment drive, according to the same source.
Photo source: Dreamstime.com
