Smooth cruise – The WizzAir experience

Editor’s note: This article dates from 2007. We are now an economic crisis later but the essence of the story is still the same. What is more, WizzAir, operating 30 aircraft, is still with us and hopefully will remain for a long time to come.

WizzAir, the largest low fare – low cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe launched operations in May 2004. They concentrate primarily on the lucrative markets of the newest EU member states where air travel is going through some really dynamic expansion. This policy has lead to the opening of routes to Eindhoven for example. The company operates these flights from Budapest, Hungary and Katowice in Poland. The author, who is an Air Traffic Controller at the Maastricht Upper Area Control Center (MUAC) was happy to join the crew of the Eindhoven-Budapest-Eindhoven flights at the end of March.

Eindhoven is still a relatively quiet airport where the atmosphere is quite relaxed and hassle-free. It is shared by civil and military users the biggest operator – apart from the Koninklijke Luchtmacht (The Royal Air Force of the Netherlands) – is Ryanair. Also Transavia and a few Turkish charter companies fly there regularly and on a typical day the airport handles about 20 arrivals.

After some really helpful co-ordination with the company’s operations control, crew rostering section and the Head of Training, Captain Gabor Lezsovits, I was ready to board HA-LPD, (c/s number 1902) an Airbus A320-200 that operated as WZZ228B.

The aircraft arrived on time from Budapest, its lively colour scheme immediately drawing attention in the grey morning weather. Stepping on board I was welcomed by Captain Janos Szilagyi and F/O Roman Krapez in the cockpit. After a quick introduction to the emergency procedures (use of oxygen mask, cockpit window and emergency rope – features that I was not particularly looking forward to seeing in use – it was time to start the preparation of the flight. After some pretty good work from the ground staff and the cabin crew, boarding was completed just around the 25 minutes turnaround time. F/O Krapez showed me the ingenious flight computer, the so called pen tablet which all Wizz air crews use for all necessary calculations in accordance with their new “less paper concept”.

This computer will eventually replace all paper documents and maps on board of an aircraft. It helped calculating all necessary weight and balance information and all other data based on them. Having input all the data (RWY conditions, QNH, wind, flaps configuration, the aircraft’s take off weight etc.) the V1, VR, V2 speeds and the take-off distance were calculated. Our take-off weight with 118 passengers was 60.8 tones. The crew by then copied the actual ATIS and expected RWY22 for take-off. This aircraft and crew could operate at as little Runway Visual Range as 75 meters so the visibility of 5 km-s and the rather hazy conditions were not a major problem. Having received the route clearance on the Ground frequency we were cleared on the SONEB2K departure and were given the squawk of 3147, which was set on the transponder during read back. Captain Szilagyi who was the pilot flying on this leg, taxied the a/c after the ”After Start” and ”Taxi” checklists had been read , while F/O Krapez acknowledged the “Line up and wait” clearance onto the wet RWY 22.

There was very little wind (140/3kts) and we got the take-off clearance. After read-back the crew pushed the levers forward to the “FLEX” (Flexible takeoff) marker, while the aircraft accelerated on the 3000 meters long and 45 meters wide runway, to the calculated V1 of 132 knots. Immediately “Rotate” was called (VR133 knots) followed by V2 which in this case was 136 knots and we took to the air after a calculated takeoff distance of 1182m. After F/O Krapez called out “positive rate of climb” Captain Szilagyi called for gear up, followed by retraction of the flaps in sequence and we entered the clouds very shortly. After passing 3000’ we were instructed by the TWR to contact Dutchmil (the military ATC over the Netherlands) on the 128.35. Eindhoven is situated underneath a relatively large military airspace – which was fully active at that time – hence the military control.

DMIL cleared us up to FL 130 as the aircraft was set on autopilot and followed the rather complicated standard departure route which had been programmed into the FMGS (Flight Management Guidance System) before departure. We broke out of the clouds around FL100 and called Amsterdam ACC-Sector 2 on 124.875. We were then recleared first to FL150 then to FL190 and were instructed to turn direct to EXOBA. This resulted in an interesting situation because EXOBA apparently was not on our filed route. In fact I only found out after the landing when I also visited WZZ Ops. that they had modified the originally filed routing – the UL620 airway – with a CHG message because of an ATC regulation in the Slovakian airspace.

To avoid the slot in the regulated airspace, Wizz Air ops. had opted for a slightly longer route on the UL603 over Bavaria and Austria. Sadly this important change was not available for the Amsterdam sector 2. controller. This was of course not an ideal situation and the crew wanted to resolve the misunderstanding as soon as possible, but our controller was rather busy. In fact he asked us to be patient since he had to hand over our flight to the next sector very soon after he cleared the A320 to climb to FL230. Sure enough in a minute we were instructed to call Langen on the 133.775 where the controller apparently knew about our new route and instructed us to turn to GMH (Germinghausen) and to climb to FL250. Another frequency change followed and we continued with Maastricht Radar’s “Ruhr” sector and climbed to FL330. Every time the aircraft approached the cleared flight level the pilot non-flying made a “one thousand to go” call which had the crew ready to monitor the decreasing rate of climb as they made sure the autopilot captured the correct level. It was a busy period of the flight and the amount of frequency changes and chatter were clear indication to the crew how busy and complex this airspace is. Finally we were established on our flight planned route on the UL603 at FL330 and it was time to reconfirm our requested final cruising level of FL390 with Rhein Radar. We got the clearance to climb and after leveling off the autopilot set the “managed speed” at Mach 0.79 in accordance with the Cost Index (CI – an index used to take into account the relationship between fuel-and time-related costs) which is defined at 35 on all Wizz Air Airbuses. In this case the FMS managed the cruise speed according to the aircraft’s gross weight, flight level, wind and of course the Cost Index.

Captain Szilagyi who flew Bombardier CRJ 200 with Malev Hungarian Airlines previously (and who is also a dedicated glider pilot – his team won the European Aerobatic Glider Championship in 2006) had time to explain the most important modes of the 2 Primary Flight Displays (PFD) and 2 Navigational Display (ND) and also the ECAM (Electronic Centralized Aircraft Monitor) system of the Airbus which is used to monitor the engine parameters, fuel flow and quantity. It also gives a quick and clear overview of the cabin air pressure and temperatures in the different parts of the cabin and cockpit and this is where the crew can see any system or error messages.

There was only very little wind even at cruising level (approximately 240/16 kts) and Mach 0.79 equaled 453 knots ground speed while the fuel flow indicated 1060 kg/h on both engines. In the meantime we crossed the Munich FIR and entered Austrian airspace where the Alps offered a spectacular sight as our intrepid flight continued on the UL603 to GOTAR which is the entry waypoint to the Budapest FIR. The crew listened to the ATIS at our destination and found out that the wind was 120 degrees 8 knots, with scattered clouds around 3500 feet and the visibility more than 10 kilometers. The pilots anticipated Runway 13 for landing and shortly after entering Hungarian airspace requested descent. We were cleared for an initial descent down to FL150 – which was selected on the Mode Control Panel and resulted in the “Thrust Idle” mode – and the direct route to VEBOS which is the start of the VEBOS 1R arrival procedure. Having selected the arrival procedure the captain went through the Approach briefing, the Missed Approach briefing and the radio navigational frequencies. Approaching FL150 we called Budapest Approach which approved our further descent to 7000 feet altitude. At VEBOS Cpt. Szilagyi slowed the Airbus down to 250 knots IAS as dictated by the STAR. Setting the actual QNH 1022 on the altimeter, instruction had been given by ATC to follow the transition for Runway 13 Right. After passing FL100 the captain called for engine and wing anti-ice and also for lights to be switched on. As the captain hoped we did not have to complete the entire arrival procedure.

Halfway through, ATC instructed WZZ228B to turn onto the heading 090 to intercept the ILS 13R. In a few minutes HA-LPD was established in full landing configuration with gear down, we got landing clearance shortly and Captain Szilagyi touched the Airbus down smoothly. The combination of brakes and thrust reversers slowed the aircraft down very effectively so we could leave on a taxiway just halfway through the 3010 meter long runway and after a short taxi we were parked in front of Ferihegy – Terminal 1, a nicely renovated vintage building from the 50’s which is used mostly by low cost airlines.

After the pleasant flight I had the chance to visit Wizz Air’s Operation Control unit. I was introduced to a small but enthusiastic group which oversee the entire operations of the 10 Airbus A320 aircraft Wizz Air have. 9 of them are Hungarian registered (2 of which are based in Budapest, 4 in Katowice, 2 in Warsaw and 1 in Gdansk) and 1 is Bulgarian registered, the latter based partly in Sofia. According to the fleet extension plans the company will receive 3 more aircraft before the end of July 2007. All 10 aircraft (configured in all-economy class with 180 seats) operate around 63-68 flights on a typical day. The 24/7 operations control is manned by only 3 dispatchers at present, who enjoy working with a pretty uncomplicated and transparent system backed up by an excellent IT network. Their job is to cover crew planning and dispatch for nearly 100 pilots and more than 200 stewardesses. This number will grow as the fleet expands. Fleet management operations include route and flight planning, slot management and communications with the CFMU.

Two days later when my return flight started the smiling faces in the briefing room, where I met the crew of WZZ227B, had disappeared. The dispatcher on duty confronted us with the grim news: the ground handling is on strike. The action seemed to have paralyzed airport operations and my chances to make it to the Netherlands by the time my afternoon duty started suddenly looked extremely slim. Luckily news filtered in that all was not lost and ground operations were carried out by senior and middle management of the handling company, which resulted in considerable delays but at least the airline’s daily schedule had not collapsed completely.

We finally boarded the aircraft, HA-LPI (cn 2752, an Airbus that arrived new from Toulouse in May 2006) and I found that I was not the only observer on the flight. Csaba Alfoldi, a recently recruited first officer who had just finished the 5 week-long A320 simulator course will occupy the jump-seat in the middle and I was seated behind the captain. F/O Alfoldi had just started his line-training and first he had to complete a number of flights as an observer before moving on to the right seat. Csaba gained experience in the Hungarian Air Force where he flew Mig 29-s for many years. We had plenty of experience in the cockpit anyway as the front seats were occupied by two captains: Captain Ralf Heitele was the Pilot in Command that day, assisted by Cpt Andras Domokos. A luxury situation for me as Csaba had the time to answer many of my questions. I also had the chance to join him for the walk around checks. In the meantime the managers of the handling company were enjoying their little morning workout on the sunny apron and boarding almost completed it was time for us to return to the cockpit where preparation of the flight was under way. We had 133 passengers and 6700 kg-s of fuel on board. Based on our take-off weight of 62 tones, the CONF1+F flap setting, the QNH of 1017 hPa and the outside temperature, the crew used the pen tablet for calculating the V1 (138 knots) Vr (138 knots) and V2 (140 knots) taking the calm wind into consideration as well. Start up was approved by the Tower and Captain Heitele started with engine nr. 2 to generate the necessary hydraulic pressure first for the brake system, followed by engine nr 1. EOBT was exactly 1 hour later then originally planned and the crew duly selected the appropriate delay code to indicate industrial action as a reason in the flight documents. Having received the taxi clearance we taxied to the holding point of Runway 31 Left. First in the sequence was a Malev Fokker 70 to Amsterdam which we followed later on the same route until we overtook it in Austrian airspace 4000 feet higher at FL380.

We got the take-off clearance and Captain Heitele who was the PF on this leg advanced the throttle levers and the 2 IAE V2500-A5 high-bypass turbofan engines – with 26950 lbs thrust available on each side – accelerated the Airbus to the calculated V1 and Vr of 138 knots. At this speed the Captain started to rotate the aircraft at a rate of 3 degrees/sec. The aircraft passed V2 at 140 knots and we got airborne. Having observed the positive rate of climb followed by the “Gear Up” command, Cpt Heitele called for the Autopilot 1 to be activated. Established on the TORNO 3X SID which took us right above the city of Budapest, the PF had to make sure that in accordance with the noise abatement procedure we accelerated to zero flap minimum safe maneuvering speed (Vzf) while retracting the flaps then thrust was reduced to not less than the climb power and the aircraft continued the climb with not greater than Vzf + 10 to 20 knots. After passing ALT 3500’ the aircraft accelerated smoothly to en-route climb speed and the “OP CLB” (Open climb) mode was set on the autopilot. When this mode is engaged autothrust commands climb thrust and the flight director commands the airplane pitch attitude to maintain a speed target. As the HA-LPI climbed to the requested level of 380 we followed the filed routing which took us along the UL850 to Austrian then German airspace and at PASAU waypoint we joined the UL604.

After an uneventful cruising phase we arrived at the Maastricht Radar airspace descending to FL360 and we got the clearance to ABOTU then VELNI which is the entry point to the Amsterdam FIR in the lower airspace and is situated just 30 NM from our destination. The main advantage of this Saturday morning flight was that the military areas were not active and we were cleared on a direct route to our destination, tracking just south of Dortmund and north of Dusseldorf. After the approach briefing the crew checked the Eindhoven ATIS which indicated 12 knots wind from 040 degrees and CAVOK. Having been cleared to a continuous descent WZZ227B was instructed to call Dutchmil as we approached the Netherlands. The aircraft had been assigned radar heading 230 to guide us for an ILS approach for Runway 04 and to reduce speed to 250 kIAS. Local QNH 1018 set and descending to 2000 feet and turning to heading 010 we were cleared to intercept the ILS. Captain Heitele selected flaps 1 then shortly flaps 2 configuration. Established on the glide path WZZ228B was cleared to land on RWY 04. After the Gear down command the final “flaps 3” was selected. We landed on the “piano keys” and after a short taxi we were parked on the apron in front of the terminal where a few of the typical Saturday charter flights were handled. The clock indicated 1 hour and 41 minutes total time. It was time to say goodbye to the crew who still had a long day ahead with the return flight and later the Budapest-Beauvais-Budapest trip.

Flying with Wizz Air was a lot of fun on both legs. The friendly crew – who obviously love their profession – never got tired of my questions (or at least they concealed it well) and they demonstrated how capable an aircraft the A320 is. Thanks a lot!

(I’d like to thank the WizzAir crews, Cpt Gabor Lezsovits Head of Training, Mr Sandor Gulyas Cockpit Crew Planning Manager, Mr Tamas Sporleder Supervisor Operations Control and Mr Zsolt Kovacs, Head of Operations Control for the opportunity to fly in the cockpit of WizzAir’s A320-s.)

Forrás:

http://www.roger-wilco.net/smooth-cruise-the-wizzair-experience/