Vietnam Airlines (info please)
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Each pilot has his own history with RAL, some good, some not so good, no need to go on and on about why I personally don't like the outfit, only will say that the vast majority here want a different contractor.
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Could anybody provide into what the schedule is like? Is it really 6 weeks on and 2 off? How many hours a month do you fly? Does the schedule change alot?
Any info is greatly appreciated.
VF
Any info is greatly appreciated.
VF
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small Airbus
Well it used to be about 60 hours a month LHS, now due to increased schedule and new aircraft, closer to 90. Rosters are handed out weekly, so the maximum look into the future will be seven days, in that seven days you will usually get two days off.
Vacation periods can be obtained well in advance, vacation days can be manipulated, for instance, instead of taking two weeks off you could make it one week and take three weeks off on the following vacation.
I believe they are desperately short of FO's, TRE's and CA's in that order.
My advice, don't take the first thing they offer you!
D.L.
Some small Airbus destinations: Busan, Osaka, Seoul, HKG, KUL, Bejing, SIN, BKK, Hanoi, DaNang, Seim Reap Cambodia, TPE.
Vacation periods can be obtained well in advance, vacation days can be manipulated, for instance, instead of taking two weeks off you could make it one week and take three weeks off on the following vacation.
I believe they are desperately short of FO's, TRE's and CA's in that order.
My advice, don't take the first thing they offer you!
D.L.
Some small Airbus destinations: Busan, Osaka, Seoul, HKG, KUL, Bejing, SIN, BKK, Hanoi, DaNang, Seim Reap Cambodia, TPE.
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Dream Land, thanks for the info. I would like to commute from Hawaii. Do you think it would be possible to do that? I know I would have to pay for part of the trip but that's ok to me.
Thanks,
VF
Thanks,
VF
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I had hoped some other pilots would comment but maybe they are too busy flying! 
pezetaroi, my opinion is QOL very good, lots of freedom here, traffic is heavy but not dangerous, food is real good, haven't ever been sick, have eaten at many little cafés that open up on the sidewalk at night, the Vietnamese love foreigners, they are happy and helpful. Plenty of single beautiful girls, lots of night spots and fine dining. About four hour drive to the nearest resort / beach area, transportation is plentiful and cheap. You can always walk around in t-shirts and shorts, all year round. Rent for a descent house is about $1000.00 USD, small one bedroom apartments can be found for about $500.00 near the airport or cheaper in South Saigon (one hour commute).
varigflier, your contract will only say 6/2 unless you are a TRE and then 4/4 is possible, but if you talk to the rostering manager you could work out 8 and 3. As far as the ticket goes, you will have to pay that yourself, chances are you could work out some type of jump seat arrangement for the commute with a freighter out of Singapore or Hong Kong, best bet for you would be to share a place with someone for about $350.00, even if you are paying for a ticket you will end up with a lot in the bank!
D.L.
pezetaroi, my opinion is QOL very good, lots of freedom here, traffic is heavy but not dangerous, food is real good, haven't ever been sick, have eaten at many little cafés that open up on the sidewalk at night, the Vietnamese love foreigners, they are happy and helpful. Plenty of single beautiful girls, lots of night spots and fine dining. About four hour drive to the nearest resort / beach area, transportation is plentiful and cheap. You can always walk around in t-shirts and shorts, all year round. Rent for a descent house is about $1000.00 USD, small one bedroom apartments can be found for about $500.00 near the airport or cheaper in South Saigon (one hour commute).
varigflier, your contract will only say 6/2 unless you are a TRE and then 4/4 is possible, but if you talk to the rostering manager you could work out 8 and 3. As far as the ticket goes, you will have to pay that yourself, chances are you could work out some type of jump seat arrangement for the commute with a freighter out of Singapore or Hong Kong, best bet for you would be to share a place with someone for about $350.00, even if you are paying for a ticket you will end up with a lot in the bank!
D.L.
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Almost no night stops, the Vietnamese crews like to take these flights so they make extra money, generally you are at home every night. I would estimate about three or four layovers in Hanoi each month.
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Just spoke with a recently hired FO and his sessions went something like this:
Sim 1, Auto pilot off the entire session, minor failures and a variety of approaches.
Sim 2, Normal automation, Double HYD failure, Double ADR failure, Double FCU failure.
Also as a note, they use generic Airbus procedures and check lists, they don't do a lot of weather condition changing, crosswind always 20 knots direct.
Recommend bringing a good bottle of whiskey.
Sim 1, Auto pilot off the entire session, minor failures and a variety of approaches.
Sim 2, Normal automation, Double HYD failure, Double ADR failure, Double FCU failure.
Also as a note, they use generic Airbus procedures and check lists, they don't do a lot of weather condition changing, crosswind always 20 knots direct.
Recommend bringing a good bottle of whiskey.
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They call it an evaluation but if they offer you a contract this is your base check and after that you do some ground school like CRM, SEP, and AIR LAW
Then you get about 4 to 6 sectors and that s it you are check out
It use to be like that
It may be different now
Then you get about 4 to 6 sectors and that s it you are check out
It use to be like that
It may be different now
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I see that Parc have started advertising for A330 pilots, but with no further info available at the moment.
Anyone locally care to comment on this? The A330 seems to have been on/off for a while now.
Anyone locally care to comment on this? The A330 seems to have been on/off for a while now.
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There is no interview.
You just show up with all your "papers". If your papers are in order, you hop in the SIM for 4 hours. If you can keep the blue side up for 30 mins, you got the job. The other 3 1/2 hours is your initial training. Of course you won't know the SOP's so they will instruct you and help you out a lot. The next day you do it again for 4 hours.
Then you go to Ho Chi Minh City for Ground school. Often you will be told to show up at 9am on Monday. Hang around until 10am. Then someone shows up and tells you to come back at 9am on Tuesday.
On Tuesday you'll start about 9:30 and break for lunch at 11:30. Come back around 2pm and finish at 4pm. This goes on for about 10 days and then you do a few sectors of Line Indoc.
You are issued a temporary Vietnamese licence based on your ICAO licence. After a few months you go to Hanoi and write the Vietnamese "Air Law" exam.
This exam must have been written by Vietnamese with rather poor English. The questions are difficult to understand, and the answers rarely make any sense. You just pick the best answer and hope for the best.
If English is your native tongue, you will have difficulty passing it on the first try. Don't worry, you can always write it again. Everyone else seems to understand the "pigeon" English and gets it on the first try. If you fail 3 times they give you and "Oral".
That at was my experience in 2003.
You just show up with all your "papers". If your papers are in order, you hop in the SIM for 4 hours. If you can keep the blue side up for 30 mins, you got the job. The other 3 1/2 hours is your initial training. Of course you won't know the SOP's so they will instruct you and help you out a lot. The next day you do it again for 4 hours.
Then you go to Ho Chi Minh City for Ground school. Often you will be told to show up at 9am on Monday. Hang around until 10am. Then someone shows up and tells you to come back at 9am on Tuesday.
On Tuesday you'll start about 9:30 and break for lunch at 11:30. Come back around 2pm and finish at 4pm. This goes on for about 10 days and then you do a few sectors of Line Indoc.
You are issued a temporary Vietnamese licence based on your ICAO licence. After a few months you go to Hanoi and write the Vietnamese "Air Law" exam.
This exam must have been written by Vietnamese with rather poor English. The questions are difficult to understand, and the answers rarely make any sense. You just pick the best answer and hope for the best.
If English is your native tongue, you will have difficulty passing it on the first try. Don't worry, you can always write it again. Everyone else seems to understand the "pigeon" English and gets it on the first try. If you fail 3 times they give you and "Oral".
That at was my experience in 2003.
Last edited by Lost in Saigon; 28th Nov 2007 at 01:08.
