Regarding the above post, here is my 50 cents on that:
I never felt like a mercenary.
I never felt obligated to be thankful for the job.
I never described Vietnam as a sh*thole. My expat friends never described Vietnam as a sh*thole. The major thing that seemed to be a discussion point was the pollution in Hanoi.
I didn't feel that the working culture was suppressive, however I did notice a fear culture amongst a significant proportion of local pilots who, on occasion, appeared to operate to the FOQA limits instead of to the SOP. I tried my best to alleviate this practice on my flights.
Most of the expats that I know of who were involved in safety incidents were not fired. I never heard of a local pilot being fired, but they were certainly demoted.
I have never heard of any pilot paying for aircraft/equipment damage. I did hear of local and expat pilots losing salary (per day) whilst being suspended due to pending investigation of serious safety events. However, I think this is in the contract (something about not being able to be rostered for duty during your on rotation).
I do believe some but not all locals will lie to save his a*s as opposed to yours. I did not experience this, nor did any of my expat friends.
You do have the right to defend yourself in the event of a safety event. Many have and were not fired.
Regarding the role of the agency in defending you when need a helping hand, you are probably correct, but I never required such help. You can only expect the agency to do what is in the contract, and nothing more. This is the viewpoint I took when I started the contract. Take this, have a backup plan and you won't be disappointed. I had no issues with my agency, in fact they were great to work for.
I have flown with various other operators, in other cultures, and the view you give of management is generally the same everywhere. However, I had no issues with management.
I share your view of the political and social culture, but this never bothered me or affected my ability to do my job, get paid for it and enjoy myself in Vietnam. I suggest you get laid more
I previously worked in what most would view as a 'higher overall reward package' airline, but I can tell you after taking into account the amount of vacation you get in VN and the cost of living, I was better off at VN. Yes the money isn't the same as China, but you have a choice and I made a choice not to pursue China, as I felt (and subsequently experienced) what appeared to be much less headache during application, screening, training, line operations and simulator.
The exhausting 10/1 schedule is by choice and is not much different to most full-time A320 operations that I have experienced. The actual daily duties at VN were by far the easiest/least tiring duties I have experienced in my career.
Your statement regarding the force to 6/3 is true, but what most should have done (i.e. the smart thing to do) was to just sit tight and let them realise that they cannot crew the aircraft by making the Captains reduce their roster (this took me about 1 hour to calculate and come to such a conclusion, also based on other expats' advice that VN will revert this instruction in about 1 month's time, based on precedence).
I was never made to believe that I would earn overtime on a 6/3 roster. In fact I averaged < 40 hours per month on this pattern. If one wants overtime, then one should choose a higher pattern.
You are correct, you will never work full time here. That is why most pilots choose this contract!
Yes crewing on occasion tried to get me to fly illegaly, (happened in every airline I have ever flown with), but this was generally after a roster disruption - i.e, I was never rostered illegally. I simply denied their request with my reasons and I never received management backlash.
I was hospitalised whilst in Vietnam, and my insurance paid back every dollar.
I never used a standby ticket. When I wanted to travel within Vietnam/SE Asia, I just bought the cheapest full fare ticket I could find (with the salary and the cost of living, this is not an issue).
I was never bumped off a confirmed ticket to/from home. In fact I always managed to get the Business Class upgrade as promised. If indeed you did get bumped off, then this is an issue you can take up with the agency as it is a breach of contract. Actually this happens in many of the other expat airlines around the world, so it is nothing new. Over-bookings happen, its a fact of life. However, it never did for me.
ZED fare for expat contract pilots? This is not in the contract anywhere, so no need to expect it.
Career upgrade? Enter as an A321 Captain and you don't need anything nor should expect anything else. Its a contract job! If you want career progression, go the Middle East, but be prepared for the flak that comes with that, or better yet, get with the legacy airline of your home country (if you can).
Yes the upgrade interview for expat FOs seemed to be biased and pre-planned to have them fail. However, I believe that VN wast not impressed by the attitude and competency of some of these FOs, and unfortunately, on some occasions I understood their point of view. All of them however were much more competent than the most of the local FOs. Anyway, enter an Asian contract as an FO and you expect an upgrade?
Your statement about the company reversing their decision regarding the roster reduction is somewhat true, but it is not the entire story. The story I got was that new upper management wanted to reduce costs and implemented this order without seeking approval from the roster department. Hence the roster department advised that a reduction was not possible, and then upper management withdrew their order.
Yes it is true that the locals have a b*tch session about the expats, but then again we (including myself) are guilty of the exact same thing at times. It is nothing new and happens in all expat/contract jobs. This is natural.
Your statement about our Russian counterparts I feel is unfair. There are some really nice young Russian Captains who are on the same wavelength as me regarding SOP, CRM and overall Airbus knowledge. And they are a pleasure to have a beer with.
It is true that crew interaction between pilots and cabin crew is almost non-existent in HAN, but better in SGN. But there is plenty of interaction from locals outside the airline, so its not an issue for most.
Regarding flying with local pilots - only one CRM issue I had and I dealt with it after landing and the issue didn't go past this point. 95% of local pilots are respectful and courteous to fly with.
Yes it is true that 30+ expat FOs are being made redundant and are being replaced by P2F expat cadets. Why would the airline not take advantage of this? Perfect business sense for them. I don't agree with it, but like I said before, entering the contract world as an FO in Asia always carries significant risk.
The monthly name and shame meetings is true. Quite an eye opener really
But it wasn't just the expacts getting the shaming - more the local pilots, and it seemed like it was always the new young local Captains doing most of the stuff-ups. It wouldn't surprise me however if a 'gift' was used as a get out of jail free card, but this is Asia, and it is their train-set. Just don't stuff up, operate to SOP, promote good CRM, don't cut corners and you shouldn't have to be at one of those safety meetings. If it is pure bad luck that you are, then you have the chance to explain yourself.
I agree that fuel uplift is out of control here. Yes I did see the list of 'heavy fuel uplifters' but that did stop being published many years ago. Guys divert because they don't TAKE ENOUGH fuel when the weather is bad or unpredictable. It is a good thing that the management don't bug you on your uplift, but this doesn't mean you have to uplight extra fuel just because you have a free ticket to do so. The weather, infrastructure and fuel policy in VN is no different to what I have been used to, so my personal uplift policy did not change just to fit into the VN culture. I was told I was one of only about 2 expats that regularly took CFP fuel into HAN during the winter. In my experience, the weather never really called for it in winter, and neither did any NOTAM / FON regarding traffic etc. Overall, 0 diversions and 0 min fuel calls. Sensible uplifts based on sensible decisions.
I have lived as an expat in 3 different cultures, and living in Vietnam was definitely NOT A CHALLENGE.