The Hungarian and Maltese branches of Wizz Air were ordered to repay money owed to pilots and cabin crew in Romania. The final rulings were communicated this summer and confirmed that the airlines must recalculate salaries for annual leave and pay back income lost through forced unpaid leave. Both cases were brought forward by FPU Romania, which represented a large group of past and current employees. Our legal team handled the two cases, building on previous decisions already won in Romania and at the European level.
In 2023, FPU Romania won a first ruling that confirmed what should have been applied for years: pilots and cabin crew must be paid their full salary during annual leave, not just the basic part. A decision from the European Court of Justice back in 2010 had already made this clear, yet Wizz Air kept ignoring it. For aircrew this is no small issue. Their pay is built from a fixed salary plus variable elements like flight hours and allowances. If you cut those out during holidays, you cut out a big part of their income.
Read more Bucharest Labor Court has ruled that Wizz Air must pay the crew a higher holiday salary
After the March 2023 ruling, Wizz Air corrected payments but only three months back. Some employees decided to go further, using their right under Romanian law to claim up to three years of lost income.
The second case came from the Covid period (2020-2021), when flights were grounded. Most airlines used technical unemployment to support staff, but Wizz Air forced its people to take unpaid leave. Although the first court rejected this claim, the Appeal Court has overturned it and ordered Wizz Air to pay back those unpaid days from 2020 and 2021.
“Many pilots and cabin crew are starting to stand up for their rights, and these two cases, though a rollercoaster, brought a good result for the staff who trusted FPU Romania,” said Costel Gîlcă and Bianca Mircea, FPU Romania’s legal team.
Both decisions are final, and Wizz Air has already paid what was owed. Our members can now move forward with their careers knowing their rights were finally respected.
“We are the first trade union at Wizz Air and we’ve fought in court for years. Now it’s time to meet the airline at the table and secure what our members rightfully deserve: professional representation and a collective agreement,” said Mircea Constantin, Secretary General of FPU Romania.
