Smartwings in a nutshell
Smartwings (formerly Travel Service) is the largest Czech airline based at Prague PRG Airport.
The airline mainly operates flights for travel agencies from all over Europe, mainly from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary, but occasionally leases its aircraft to the whole world.
Smartwings also operates several scheduled routes.
The airline has approximately 40 Boeing 737-800, Boeing 737 MAX 8 or Boeing 737-700 aircraft in its fleet.
Since October 2024, the CSA Czech Airlines brand has also been integrated under Smartwings operations, operating Airbus A220 or Airbus A320 aircraft in its own livery. However, Smartwing and Czech Airlines are effectively one company.
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2 comments
Smartwings pilots violated regulations, accident prevented by automatic system...
Of course, the tabloids are making a sensation out of it again, but the 100 metres are high rise, so it wasn't that bad. Anyway, it's the second violation of the regulations and once again a high-ranking Smartwings pilot is involved.
I wouldn't minimize the incident too much. On the Zdopravy.cz website, which is not exactly a tabloid, there are a few insiders discussing it and they certainly don't find it insignificant:
It is not negligible, of course, but I see it as a mistake that Smartwings as usual tried to cover it up and it didn't work. On the other hand, the headlines like a full plane seconds after the crash are also completely out of line.
Zdopravy.cz is definitely not a tabloid. It's hard to say what's scarier: the highly problematic safety culture at Smartwings (to illustrate: that single-engine nutcase Veselý continues to fly for QS), or the inaction of Jagr and the rest of the CAA.
@floodland: i put a link to Zdopravy , so i don't really understand why you write about tabloids. Unless you consider Zdopravy a tabloid - then your post would make sense...
@floodland - it just really looks like they didn't have much time to deal with it according to the log on FR24, dude Nevole just responded to a critical GPWS warning. And by the way, people (supposedly from Smartwings) in the discussion about him write that a more self-centered and arrogant person is needed in the company and that few first officers in the cockpit dared to contradict him. I admit, however, that this may be an unseemly slander...
Oh, yeah, Smartwings. They don't have enough people, they can't compete with lowcost, they need to save money so they hire temps on the side and this is how it works out.
@Vlk.7 Coincidentally, this is what the final and report on the single-engine Vesely incident talks about:
- He ignored the F/O's legitimate request for an expedited descent due to the airplane's declining airspeed after the powerplant was deployed, and as a result caused the crew's stress to escalate ,
- performed NNC procedures in an unusually rapid communication manner, thereby reducing the F/O's ability to effectively cross-check the correctness of their execution ,
- failed to discuss with the F/O the safety considerations arising from the nature of the situation, thereby failing to enable the crew to develop a realistic and common strategy for the safe completion of the flight,
- failed to follow CRM principles to effectively address technical and non-technical issues ,
- communicated his own decisions to the F/O with a high command gradient as fact ,
@Petr76 - this is really strong coffee to read. It's like something out of an episode of Air Disasters about servile Asian crews:)
The fact is, they haven't dropped anything in a long time. Let's see if the balance holds up.
Inquiry regarding the recent incident on a flight to Egypt and the dropping off of a drunk passenger in Athens. Is the return ticket forfeited in this case or not? After all, it's a non-flighted segment isn't it? Or does this incident automatically put the passenger on the blacklist and no longer with the company?
It was definitely someone who bought it through a CK and then the CK conditions apply.
But realistically, it probably didn't even make recent sense to fly it, because the ticket to go straight to that Egypt, which the passenger would have had to buy himself in order to use the return flight, would have cost more than what he paid for the whole trip.
Excluded from carriage, forfeits round trip, blacklisted, plus pays a fine equal to the loss on the stopover.