For all of you interested in a position with HVN.
Well this airline is in most areas far away from being an airline you probably know. The standards you will find here are not what they should be or as some people say below standard.
You will have to deal with a lot of problems. The maintenance is in parts very bad and may only be called repair, if at all. The Maintenance is carried out by two separate divisions within the company, one serves the Boeing fleet and the other the products assembled in Europe's south. The one for the Toulouse products either with props or with the sidestick is really bad and there are a lot of problems. It should be better on the Boeing fleet.
The flying standards are very different. You will find some good local guys but you will experience that the vast majority of the local pilots are below average airline standard performance. That's what you will have to deal with. Due to the fact that most of the pilots on the B767 fleet are expats it is indeed better there but it is an issue for the ATR and the Airbus fleet.
Regarding the story about possible upgrades, well don't expect that it will happen to you. As the B767 will be phased out over the next three to four years - which is what I expect - you will lose your job here. The B777 will be a mostly local pilot operated fleet. The B777 is the shining horse of the company and all of the important people got promoted onto this horse and this will last until they wont find any local pilot who would fly the B777.
The same applies to the proposed upgrades on the Airbus fleet for current FO. There was a letter issued in the past days that this option is canceled. So you see how far you can trust the people over here.
An other big issue in the last weeks was that despite the fact that according to the contract each pilot is entitled for a confirmed seat and ticket for his two weeks off boarding was denied and the pilots had to delay their home travel. Flights are full and even with a ticket you will get kicked off a flight. Not only one may be twice or three times in a row. That's especially nice if you have an arrangement for your travel from Paris or any other place to your domicile. Don't expect to get reimbursed for that.
It is hard to predict if an individual would like living (and working) in Saigon, or like it is officially called Ho Chi Minh City. It is truly an Asian city but you must keep in mind that this is a big industrial city of a developing country. You have to expect smog, dirt, noise and all the other disadvantages. The beaches are far away, too far to get their for your single day off while you are here. There is not much to do than eating, drinking, an occasional visit to the gym or some form of "fun". That's it.
I know people see things different, so this is just my humble own opinion and experience after being here for about a year. Be careful if you plan to join HVN. If you have a good jib elsewhere stick with it. If you have a family stay with them if you are really desperate for job, than you should think about it.
An to a ad one thing to the racism discussion, as an expat you have to expect to get all **** trips that are available. All, really all.