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AT A GLANCE…
Hi Fly is a wet lease charter airline based in Lisbon and Malta. It was founded in 2005 as a small one aircraft operation until 2018 when it solidified its position as a global leader in widebody aircraft wet leasing. The airline gradually increased its Airbus fleet and gained international recognition for its high standards in safety, operational efficiency, and reliability. To support its growing reputation and staffing requirements, Hi Fly approached AeroProfessional in 2008 to recruit flight deck, cabin crew, ground staff and engineers for their A319, 330, 340, and 380 fleet. AeroProfessional has since continued to support Hi Fly with their recruitment needs, forming a long-standing partnership which continues to this day.
THE SITUATION…
With its growing popularity, Hi Fly faced the need to expand its flight crew, ground personnel, and engineering team to meet rising demand and provide its airline clients with additional aircraft, cabin crew, and maintenance services. Recognising the importance of rapidly sourcing skilled candidates, Hi Fly partnered with AeroProfessional for specialised recruitment services. AeroProfessional not only provided hiring support but also offered contracting solutions, enabling new Hi Fly pilot recruits to benefit from AeroProfessional's international payroll service.
AeroProfessional is an aviation recruitment consultancy, specialising in the provision and contracting of experienced and highly qualified aviation professionals to airlines around the world. With a vast network of over 30,000 aviation personnel from a variety of sectors, and over 40,000 LinkedIn following, AeroProfessional has successfully built an enviable reputation for service excellence, making it the number one recruiter choice for many airlines and candidates globally.
In 2008, Hi Fly and AeroProfessional formed a strong collaboration in an effort to find the most suitable pilots, cabin crew, ground staff, and engineers for their operations. As Hi Fly required candidates from a variety of aviation sectors, AeroProfessional needed to maximise its efforts to attract a large number of people suitable for these positions and help Hi Fly keep pace with their rising demand and busy operations in an ever-changing labour market.
THE SOLUTION…
In addition to searching within their own vast candidate network, AeroProfessional also launched Hi Fly branded advertisement campaign to attract more talent. The ads were tailor made and published across various platforms to target the relevant audiences, which were flight deck and cabin crew, as well as ground staff and engineers for Hi Fly. The campaign generated a high engagement rate which resulted in AeroProfessional receiving plenty of applications from candidates across all disciplines.
AeroProfessional took care of the search and selection process which included carefully reviewing each candidate’s skills and qualifications, and shortlisting the ones who matched the profile that Hi Fly had requested. Applicants applied from different countries.
Once AeroProfessional selected the right candidates, it coordinated the assessment process for pilots and cabin crew, ensuring their suitability for the role and alignment with Hi Fly’s specifications. Moreover, it coordinated interviews and initiated discussions with Hi Fly regarding ground staff and engineering applicants who met the company's requirements.
All successful candidates were then engaged by AeroProfessional and sub-leased back to Hi Fly, with the new crew benefitting from AeroProfessional’s dedicated contractor care team.
THE RESULTS…
AeroProfessional’s recruitment campaigns attracted many skilled candidates with an array of skills and qualifications that matched Hi Fly’s requirements, allowing for a pool of further talent for future needs to be created. In addition to its recruitment efforts, AeroProfessional’s attentive candidate care process which involved acting as a point of contact for any welfare issues, left Hi Fly with more time to focus on its operations while ensuring the needs of its staff were acknowledged and met.
AeroProfessional had at the time successfully recruited 150 pilots, 5 engineers and 16 ground staff for Hi Fly. Since 2008, when the first collaboration took place, Hi Fly’s workforce expanded to over 1200 qualified professionals, many of which AeroProfessional supplied for them. AeroProfessional continued to support Hi Fly in its flight crew recruitment by coordinating recruitment events across various countries and assisting in the associated logistics.
The partnership continues to deliver positive results, enabling Hi Fly to continue to grow steadily. The company is now Portugal’s largest private airline, achieving 99.7% dispatch reliability across its fleet, well above the world average. AeroProfessional has been instrumental in providing flight deck, cabin crew, ground staff, and engineers for Hi Fly's diverse fleet. This collaboration has evolved into a long-standing partnership, characterised by mutual trust and support, and continues to thrive today.
Empower
Growth
While we have provided valuable aviation personnel solutions to many clients over the years, our long-standing relationship with Hi Fly is without doubt our most successful to date. Spanning 16 years, we feel as part of the airline as any other of their internal departments. We truly understand Hi Fly’s culture and goals, and we make them our absolute priority in everything we do for the airline.
Sam Sprules
Managing Director at AeroProfessional
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AeroProfessional is not only the broker that we use to find flight crew, but they are certainly among the best. In the 11 years we have worked with AeroProfessional, the partnership between our companies has grown very strong. They are a capable business who we can rely on to provide the volume and quality of candidates we require, and their worldwide reach means that they can support our operators on a global basis.
Board of Directors at Hi Fly
