Well; my 50 cents here since I've seen almost everyone complaint but not really bring up the facts. Let me see if I can shed some details on why so many have negative responses at the moment:
Let bring one fact to the discussion: as an Expatriate, being an FO, a Captain, TRI, TRE or GOD, in Vietnam Airlines, as in any other Airline in Vietnam and most of SE Asia, you DO NOT work for Vietnam Airlines; you work for an intermediate company, a Broker, who sells out your skills, experience and expertise! It is of the utmost importance to understand that you are but NOTHING ELSE than a Mercenary for the locals! Keep that in mind!
Now, this is Asia and any Asian led company hiring Expats will believe that this is THE BEST job offer out there in the world. You are, in their mind, obligated to feel thankful that they hired and welcomed you to their amazing country, though most Expats will say "how the hell did I end up in this ****-hole?".
If you are unable or unwilling to adapt to what I, a westerner, in my year and a half here observed as a suppressive and fear oriented work culture, then don't even dream to apply here. You can do everything right and since you are the expendable Expat, YOU will take the blame, YOU will get fired and YOU will pay any damages! Locals will lie through their teeth to cover their asses, not including the hypocrisy of this entire entity. Here you have NO rights as you are in THEIR socialist country, not even the right to defend yourself if you are blamed for any event. And guess what else: NO Broker Company will stand up and defend you as they do not wish to upset their so fragile asian customer relationship by loosing face, which is the managers of the Airlines.
This kind of mid-evil, outdated and, for westerners incomprehensible, form of management is still strongly rooted into the "culture" of any company directed by Vietnamese or, as a matter of fact, almost any Asian managers. They are "born" into this corrupt system and environment and I don't see any tendency that this will improve in this century.
Another interesting factor is that even though Asian companies, even VNA, a state-owned socialist enterprise, want results and efficiency levels as high as European or American companies, most are neither willing to invest nor make the western type of effort to get to that level. Instead, in the traditional Asian way, problems are usually ignored until they disappear by themselves! VNA is no exception!
But lets take a closer look at what VNA promises and what it has to offer, so to say the "pro's and con's":
Attractive Renumeration Package:
no, not really, unless you work full time, that being an exhausting 10-1 schedule; but, until recently, the entire Expat A321 fleet was forced to a 6-3 scheme, dozens of pilots already resigned as QR and HK Air smelled blood in the waters and came to Vietnam to recruit. Surprisingly, management regretted that peanut saving decision and offered veteran pilots to return to their normal roster.
Also, you will be made believe that you will have a great chance to earn extra for every hour over 160 bi-monthly. Until today I have never exceeded that on an 6-3 schedule, and what I heard, you never will, even working full time here.
Another note here: VNA scheduling will NEVER be responsible for your schedule. Its up to YOU to stay legal! Good luck with that!
Great benefits package:
Well, medical insurance varies as it depends on your Broker; but when it comes to Stby Tickets, VNA made sure to complicate the hell out of the process so you will just don't WANT to use that benefit. I personally was bumped on "guaranteed" home tickets a few times as their logic is "you are just an Expat".
Forget ZED or Interline; they will never get those, not even for their own pilots as they would never know how to use them, anyways.
Possibility of upgrade and career advancement:
yeah, sure; and I also belive in Santa Claus; you might want to try getting on a wide body for US$60 grand and 4-6 months of no pay, but only if you pass a ridiculous humiliating interview with management which is nothing but bias for Expats; but hey, there will always be some suckers who will starve to death to do that; rumors were also floated that some "intimate favors" were the way to get ahead as a female FO to be considered for upgrades, but there is no proof of that, of course.
But as an Expat FO, don't hold your breath for your command here, you will be very disappointed!
Great working pattern:
yeah, especially the A321 Fleet could sing a song and cry a river about how, without warning, the ****-ups of upper management is costing them a lot of money. Suddenly now you can go back to your previous roster after already making adjustments to your life style upon receiving the bad news, like you perhaps already pulled your kids out of the school or so.
Great work environment:
well, that depends with whom you fly with, and where they are based; the locals bitch about all of the expats, more the guys from up north than from SGN, but most complaints are actually about our Russian counterparts. In general though, the work ambience in VNA has always been toxic, from what I heard, but I think things are on a steep descend and almost spiraling downward. Management does not offer any kind of promises, neither do the brokers. Last month 30+ First Officers were surprised to receive their release notice from VNA, even though there are 140+ "cadet pilots" lined up to join the airline; definition of hypocrisy?
Efficient Safety Management System
Not really! As mentioned previously, the general work culture is one of fear motivated to avoid punishment and being publicly embarrassed. Monthly "Safety meetings" are held to "shame and blame" Expats, very few locals get burned in those as they have their own, secret meetings; only when the "sacrificial offer", the gift, to the Safety Manager and boss was too low or the event too public to cover up, local pilot get roasted.
It sometimes stuns me how much this airline must loose each day for inadequately trained pilots carrying excessive extra fuel; but as it turns out, in the past, management tried to put an end to that by publishing a list of the "worst extra fuel pilots". So, pilots stopped doing that. Turns out that it provoked a huge wave of flights alternating due to ATC delays and weather at destination. Again, management stopped their penny pinching tendencies and things got better.
Living with the "asian culture", in my personal opinion, as a Westerner or Australian, is a challenge itself. Again, everything is a party when things go as planned, but sooner or later things will go sideways and any one of the locals, that being a pilot, manager, dispatcher or air traffic controller, will sell his grandma to keep face.
Also, there is a profound understanding that lying to an Expats face seems to be allowed and is not frowned upon when it serves a purpose for the Asian; thats how so many North and Central American Expats signed on as VNA was supposed to operate to the US since December 2015. I wonder when management will understand that it is exactly THAT cultural problem that will get any US Operations Certificate revoked shortly after it's been issued, if ever!
You are a visitor in SE Asia, so you will be expected to behave like one, adapt, and when its time to go, leave. I'd have a plan before that time comes.
The choice is yours
Good luck