Having launched its new passenger-centric approach, dubbed ‘Customer First Compass’, in April 2025, Wizz Air is now reporting encouraging signs of success.
At a company event in London on October 28, 2025, six months after the €14 billion investment, Customer First Compass went live, Wizz Air announced that the airline had seen a 10% improvement in overall customer satisfaction.
Additionally, Wizz Air has achieved an average flight completion rate of 99.5%, despite operating 7% more flights compared to 2024, reaching 1,000 flights a day in the summer peak.
At the event, the Chief Commercial Officer Michael Delehant spoke at length about how Wizz Air wanted to redefine the ultra-low-cost-carrier (ULCC) model with a customer-centric mindset.
“I think a lot of customers unfortunately think ULLC means cheap,” Delehant said. “What ULCC means is incredibly efficient. That’s what it needs to be.”
He admitted that, following the pandemic, Wizz Air was not at its best, which led to “a lot of disappointed customers”.
“Now the great news is that our people have responded,” Delehant said. “Our investments are paying off. We delivered one of our best summers on record and one of the best summers in the industry.”
Focusing on the airline’s fleet, he stressed that investment in new aircraft was of the utmost importance. In November 2025, Wizz Air will reach a “milestone” of 250 aircraft.
Delehant reiterated that Central and Eastern Europe was the airline’s focus, as well as select investments in the West such as London, which he described as “critically important” to the company.
In relation to stepping back from Vienna, Delehant explained that the cost of operating to Austria had “essentially doubled in the last five years,” and become too expensive.
Despite the high costs operating from London-Gatwick Airport (LGW), he noted that the airline would not be “stepping back from there”.
Delehant singled out Poland as hugely important customer with a rapidly growing economy and a population that is flying more and more.
Since 2023, Wizz Air has encountered significant issues with its Airbus A320neo family aircraft, primarily due to powder metal defects affecting the Pratt & Whitney GTF engines, resulting in the grounding of numerous Airbus A320neo family aircraft globally.
According to Delehant, Wizz Air currently has around 41 aircraft grounded due to issues with GTF engines.
“It’s engines that are causing grounded aircraft,” he explained. “So, if you used to send them into the shop, they would probably from wing to wing be maybe less than 100 days. Now, you’re sending an engine out to the shop, and you might not be getting it back for a year.”
At its highest point, Wizz Air had over 50 aircraft grounded. Delehant expects this to be below 40 next year and at zero by March 2028.
Future plans
Delehant also spoke about ‘Wizz Play’, an onboard WiFi system that will allow passengers to access some internet features.
According to Delehant, the “lightweight” connectivity is currently being tested on five UK-based aircraft and, if successful, could be rolled out fleet wide.
Passengers would be afforded messaging opportunities and light streaming. There would also be options for onboard digital ordering.
“That test is currently in process,” he said. “We’ll see how that works out and whether we want to expand it to the full fleet.”
Initially there would be a fee for the internet service, but Delehant said the airline would see how this “evolves” over the long term. A decision on whether to roll out Wizz Play will be made over the coming months.
In addition, Delehant introduced Wizz Class, a new business seating product that is currently being trialed. The product would see customers pay extra to block off the middle seat.
Wizz Air also announced a third wave of membership for its ‘All You Can Fly’, at the cost of €499 ($576) a year.
10,000 memberships will be available for purchase across 34 countries, enabling customers to take an extensive number of flights across the airline’s network for a set annual price, with a recurring ticket booking fee of €9.99 ($11).
