Pegasus cabin crew from Sabiha Gökçen after three years: the operation, the pay, the crew culture and the Turkish Airlines comparison from the other airport
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#1 Pegasus, Sabiha Gökçen, three years, and Elif wrote the comparison of the three Turkish carriers from the THY side. This is Pegasus from inside, because half the young crew in Istanbul are here and the forum has one paragraph about us.
The airline
Turkey's independent low cost carrier, based at Sabiha Gökçen on the Asian side with bases in Izmir, Antalya, Ankara and Adana, an A320neo and A321neo fleet, and a network across Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and Turkey. Fast growing, young crew, an informal culture by Turkish standards.
The pay structure
Basic in lira, flight hour pay, sector pay on some patterns, sales commission on the buy on board, and layover allowances in hard currency on the international night stops. The Pegasus international network is mostly turnarounds with some night stops in Europe, so the hard currency allowances are fewer than at THY's wide body fleet and the lira exposure is higher. The commission is real for the crew who sell. Net for a junior is a livable Istanbul salary on the Asian side, tight on the European side.
The operation
Four to six sectors a day on the domestic and near international, two to four on the longer European. Twenty five minute turnarounds. Full cabins, the Turkish passenger mix that Skyhigh described for THY domestic, and a service that is buy on board with a lot of tea sales. The pace is the Ryanair pace with a Turkish warmth.
The crew culture
Young (the average age at my base is under 27), informal (first names with the seniors, a relaxed crew room), fast promotion (senior cabin crew at three years is common), and a high turnover because the crew go to THY, the Gulf or Europe with the hours. Pegasus knows it is a training ground and it trains well because of it.
The Sabiha Gökçen life
The Asian side of Istanbul: cheaper, more residential, and a 30 to 45 minute commute to the airport from the districts crew live in (Pendik, Kartal, Maltepe). The European side crew at THY have the new airport at the far end of the other side; we have the opposite problem in the opposite direction. Nobody crosses the Bosphorus to work. The two crew communities barely meet.
The THY comparison
THY: the union agreement, the wide body network, the hard currency allowances on long haul, the slower promotion, the narrow body years first, the new airport commute. Pegasus: the faster promotion, the lower pay, the higher lira exposure, the informal culture, the training ground reputation, Sabiha Gökçen. Crew who want the career choose THY. Crew who want to fly now and decide later choose Pegasus. A lot of THY crew did two years here first.
For applicants
Pegasus hires Turkish nationals mainly and some foreigners with the right to work, in regular rounds, with a shorter process than THY and a training bond. Fluent Turkish is required. If you are Turkish and 21 with a café job: Pegasus will hire you this year and THY might hire you in two. Both are true and both are fine.
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#2 THY narrow body, and 'nobody crosses the Bosphorus to work' is the truest line about Istanbul aviation. The two airports are two cities. Pegasus crew and THY crew meet at weddings, not at work.
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#3 THY, and I did two years at Pegasus first, exactly as Ayşe describes: the training ground, the hours, the THY assessment friendlier with the record. Pegasus trains well. I am grateful.
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#4 THY, and the honest lira exposure comparison is the thing applicants need: Pegasus has more lira, less hard currency. That is the whole pay difference in one sentence.
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#5 Ryanair Bergamo, and 'the Ryanair pace with a Turkish warmth' is a description I would like to see on a poster. The tea sales are the Turkish commission. We have scratch cards.
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#6 German with Turkish family, applying to all three, and the 'Pegasus will hire you this year and THY might in two' line is the decision made for me. Pegasus first, THY with hours.
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#7 Wizz Budapest, and the young informal fast promotion training ground description is Wizz to the letter. The Central European and Turkish low cost carriers are the same airline with different tea.
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#8 THY wide body, and the crew who came from Pegasus are the fastest in my galley. The four sector days at Sabiha Gökçen make a crew member. Then we teach them the wine.
