British low-cost airline easyJet is already planning for a post-COVID recovery with plans to hire hundreds of cabin crew on temporary seasonal contracts for what’s expected to be a busy Summer period. In the last few days, the Luton-based airline said holiday bookings were up 250 per cent compared to last year as the hope of lockdown ending vaccines become a reality.
Last May, Europe’s second-largest low-cost airline said it would be forced to slash its workforce by nearly a third in response to the devastating effect that the pandemic has wrought upon the aviation industry.
Thousands of cabin crew have been laid off or remain without work on government wage support schemes. Leisure travel is currently banned as part of a third national lockdown but there remains optimism that things are set to dramatically improve in just a few months.
If things do go as well as expected, easyJet says it expects to start bringing on new cabin crew from as early as April. Applications have just opened for seasonal work at several cabin crew bases across the UK but anyone interested in applying will have less than a week to apply.
easyJet says it expects to be inundated with applications and the airline might even be forced to close the application window early. Understandably, easyJet is only interested in hearing from ex-flyers – cabin crew who were either made redundant or left before the pandemic upended the aviation industry.
Earlier this week, German low-cost airline Eurowings also said that it planned to hire around 130 new cabin crew based on its predictions of a busy summer season driven by sun-hungry German who have been in lockdown since before Christmas.
Eurowings said it would first offer the jobs to workers across the Lufthansa Group who have been put at risk of redundancy as part of the airline group’s cost-saving plans.
Meanwhile, some easyJet cabin crew are currently training to become vaccinators as part of the UK’s efforts to administer COVID-19 vaccines at breakneck speed. The country’s National Health Service jumped at the chance of hiring cabin crew because of their First Aid training and people skills.
Cabin crew at Virgin Atlantic and British Airways are also helping in the country’s vaccine rollout.
Opportunities are available in Belfast, Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool, London Gatwick, London Luton, and Manchester. The final date to submit an application is Tuesday 26th January 2021.
Minimum requirements include:
- At least 18-years old
- Height between 5’2″ and 6’3″
- Operated as cabin crew for at least 12-months between January 2018 and January 2021 (periods on wage support schemes do not count)
Further details can be found on the easyJet careers website here.
