Yes, I am in China, and if you remember right, I left VAC because your employer decided that the contract we both signed was overpriced from my side. 359 days ago. Then, VAC owed me about 7k in man-days for vacation not taken. Brand R decided to keep the money. A few phone calls to the contract office in Hanoi confirmed that VAC had, in fact, paid my man-days. Brand R decided that the money was theirs, and not mine. I finally got the money.

Nothing against you DL. You are a positive in the lives of new pilots at VAC. The scum you have chosen to work for in Auckland are nothing short of White Collar Criminals. Your association with them dilutes your contribution.

Yes, DL it is. But as you remember I left VAC 1 year ago, because Brand R decided to keep more of the money VAC paid to me than was contractually agreed to.

Nothing against you DL. You are a help to all new pilots that come to VAC. Unfortunately the scum you have chosen to work for dilutes your contribution and credibility on this forum. Nothing personal.

I was under Rishwworth and I thought they were fine.That was my first contract job. I was there during the start of the pay cuts.Though I think the pay cuts were wrong, I was used to them since I took about four with my company I work for in the States. I was still making more money at VNA.I don't agree with the way Rishworth handled it but it's business 101 1st thing to go is employee pay.If you didn't agree with it they're plenty of contracts out there.

I will say pay was always on time.
Medical was good,I was covered in the States. The only bad thing was family is not covered in the States.I did have loss of liscense for a small fee.It was much cheaper than my job at home plus the medical is 100 times better than at home.
Rishworth was able to get my contract changed multiple times from 6x2, 5x3 and 4x4.u don't believe park got to many changed I believe.

DL is a great guy to get you set up for your adventure in Vietnam.He has helped out many pilots joining Vna with Rishworth and also Parc.

Boys...
 

Glad to see that you are alive and kicking, ( each other )
;-)

Yes but the point is when RAL cut your salary, PARC did not.

Parc have handed out more roster variations that RAL. You know that tom.

90 hours a month? More like 400 average a year over 6 years. Sept 30, Oct was 3, Nov 36 (That was a busy month!), Dec no hours, Jan 20, Feb 25. March will be about 35 i think.

And before anybody throws i sim time? it's not much either.

Don't know where you get 90 a month from.

Mind you i don't ask for overnights. I just get what's left.

I think the most I ever flew was 90 hrs and that was during TET.Other than that maybe 65 a month on average.

Hours wise I agree. 790 hours in 18 months. Job was great. Good to see you online again TK. Hope everything is working out great at home.

FWIW I do have to disagree with the roster changes. Parc guys got it, at least 5/3, with a request. Rishworth guys had to fight for it. It took me 3 months to get the scumbags to submit the request. They lied for the first 3 months. I had to get the contract office at VAC to verify that the request had not been made. Me and you TK are one of the few Rishworth victims to get the roster change. I can't tell you how many Rishworth FO's I flew with that requested a roster change, but it was denied. And they flew far fewer hours than my 60 a month.

The agencies get paid less if you work less, so they lose money by making the request. My opinion is Parc looks at you as a long term investment, Rishworth looks at you as a short term cash cow. IMHO of course.

Contract Agencies
 

My advice for anyone out there looking into a contract position in Viet Nam or general advice for any contract, is to make contact with someone currently working on that contract, there are always cases where someone feels they were burned in the past and continually dredges up their dissatisfaction over and over again, apparently not concerned with the bigger issues at hand, their real concern only to serve themselves.

IMHO I can highly recommend to anyone looking- a position here at Viet Nam Airlines, they are continuing to grow and modernize their operation each year, the fleet is very young and the working environment is very accommodating.

Although the culture here is very different, you won't see anyone complaining about having to live here, once you stay here for a while, it gets into your blood for most.

Cheers, D.L.

DL
Serve themselves? How am I serving myself? I am simply warning others of the perils of working for your employer. What do I gain from this?

What do you gain? You get paid by them. I believe advertising for them is a violation of forum rules.

Vietnam Airlines was a great gig. I was extremely happy working there, as was treated extremely well by everyone, every time I showed up for work. I only left because I couldn't stand working for your employer any more. I knew if I stayed, they would simply rip me off again, which they attempted to do again a week later. It was a great choice.

I would also like to thank those that took the time to warn me about Rishworth when I got to Vietnam Airlines. This advice was very valuable. I believe ia1166 was one of them - thank you.

I am simply trying to pass on the good information that I received. It turned out to be all to true. Burned and now vindictive???? You bet.

If Rishworth were the last agency on earth, advertising the last pilot job. I would not apply for the job. Period.

Being a VAC thread, I do have to end this rant with a:ok::ok::ok:
for anyone wanting to work at VAC.

By the way DL, I already have at least 4 confirmed "saves". What is a save? Aircraft? No "saved" from working for Rishworth.

I can also give a half a save to ia1166 for clueing me in to your employer. If it hadn't been for that, I might have stayed with them longer, probably resulting in more anguish for me. That means one unhappy customer begat me, and then I begat 4 others.

Its like being a missionary really.........................:=

Question anybody based in Hanoi on the A320 for VN. How are the patters now, are they out and backs or are there still any layovers. Thanks for the info

This beating up on Rishworth is getting completely ridiculous

For anyone who's interested, I am a very happy Rishworth pilot, for a number of reasons

1) Pay is the same as PARC and better than DPI
2) Medical insurance is better
3) Prompt and professional reply to any communications or concerns I've had with them
4) They absolutely bent over backwards to help me get this job, I missed a connecting flight through no fault of my own while I was coming out for the interview, by the time I arrived at my transit airport they had already sorted me out with business class connecting flights on a different airline, totally at their expense, and their rep met me at the arrivals gate to help me get to the interview on time
5) The Rishworth pilot support guys here in Vietnam are a couple of top men who've been here for decades, they'll buy you a beer all day long, they give you a very good briefing on arrival with the heads up on everything you need to get started in this town. They'll answer calls and texts day or night if you need a hand on something, whether it's pilot related or just something random like figuring out how to buy a bike or rent a house
6) Rishworth has the best christmas party
7) Regardless of how wonderful you guys think Parc are, their candidates just aren't getting phone calls at the moment. I don't know the politics of the situation but I can tell you I know guys who applied from my old company through Parc and are still waiting after +1 year, I applied through Rishworth and got interview offer within days. On my joining course was 4 DPI guys and 5 Rishworth's, go figure.

There are clearly some people out there on this forum who are pretty angry over some bad thing that's happened to them in the past, fair play to them, their story is just as valid as anyone else's, but sometimes it seems like certain people have a search function running 24/7 in case someone mentions the "R" word so they can come slag them off.

The sad truth is that it seems to be the same couple of guys telling the same story year after year, and we're only getting to hear one side of a presumably two sided story. There are several hundred pilots employed by Rishworth and all the ones I have met, seem to be pretty happy with their situation.

And finally I have to say I'm sick of all the PARC worship that goes on here. Whatever they may have been in years gone by, these days they are a subsidiary of Oxford Aviation School, they are owned by private equity, and they are absolutely up to their necks in the destruction of decent airline wages in Europe, and the exploitation of 200 hour wannabes, through selling pay-to-fly schemes and crap like the "Easyjet Flexi Crew". You guys should go read about it elsewhere on this forum, stuff like that is the absolute biggest :mad: cancer on this industry at the moment. Anyone who is a professional pilot and maybe wants their kids to follow in their footsteps one day, should not support any agency that's involved in flogging such :mad: crap

Well said, Have been with Rworth and they are great.....i know alot of pilots who are happy with Rworth. You are right,it always the same grumpy old men who complain all the time.

There are alot of Parc pilots who are not happy with them...esp in matters of medical....talk to the pilot who had a bad bike mishap. FV hospital refused to start the operation on him until someone put down a deposit of USD5000. Even when his BUPA medical card was showed to them:=.

One more Parc pilot found out that he was not covered for medical evac...when he asked them,they said you have to tell us if you want it or not...:ugh:.

Point is...both have their good and bad points..its never smooth flying anywhere....THATS LIFE !

Just be greatfull that we have a good job and are able to put food on the table for our familes and save for our golden years.

Save and Happy Flying !

I am as guilty as anybody on diluting the value of this thread with contract agency stuff. So I will cease, and I have started a new thread called "Contract Agency Rants and Kudo" in the SEASIA area.

To the moderators, my apologies.

Simulator screening depends on the fleet you are joining, on the A320 it will be a two hour simulator session going through most of the standard abnormals, straight forward, no tricks.

Cheers, D.L.

Hi starskate,

Since you mentioned in your previous posts that you were furloughed from your previous job I am assuming that you will be applying as a first officer. At present time VNA is not hiring FO's. Nothing to say that it will not change sometime in the future.

I think your best bet is Tiger in Singapore, Air Asia (the pay is horrible), Air Macau and I heard Tianjin in China is hiring FO's as well. Of course the mid east is also open, Emirates, Etihad, Air Arabia, NAS, Qatar they were all looking for first officers.

As for the sim ride it is pretty straight forward, V1 cuts, SE ILS approach, SE go around, VOR approach, Wind shear, dual hydraulic failure, either NDB (yes NDB) or VOR hold and finally for PICs evacuation drills.

I hope this helps.

Hey together,

I just have some questions about VNA and hope that someone will give me a short answer.
What is the different between the job offer on the VNA website and an agency?
How is living in Vietnam with two young kids?

Thank you!!!

Quality of life at Air Vietnam will completely depend on the fleet you join.

777 fleet is the most professional of them all. roster no change much and is pretty fair.

A320 fleet is the fleet most open to the fact that VNA is still learning and needs help from foreign organizations, pilots, etc. Roster is busy, but not terrible. Young management is very good and easy the work with.

ATR and F70 fleets most friendly and humble.

papa always says, "if you can't say some good about someone, don't say anything" With that, I don't talk about A330 fleet.


Vietnam is family friendly and an easy place to live once you get yourself around the immaturity of the government, civil servants, and officials.

"and finally I have to say I'm sick of all the PARC worship that goes on here. Whatever they may have been in years gone by, these days they are a subsidiary of Oxford Aviation School, they are owned by private equity, and they are absolutely up to their necks in the destruction of decent airline wages in Europe, and the exploitation of 200 hour wannabes, through selling pay-to-fly schemes and crap like the "Easyjet Flexi Crew". You guys should go read about it elsewhere on this forum, stuff like that is the absolute biggest cancer on this industry at the moment. Anyone who is a professional pilot and maybe wants their kids to follow in their footsteps one day, should not support any agency that's involved in flogging such crap"


100% agree with that !!!!!

Parc is getting really unfair .

As a matter of point luke, nobody has been here decades. The longest serving guys are on 15years.

I'll throw this into the pot for a bit of fun:

The senior RAL guys, yes that includes the rep, get BUPA gold and Loss of Licence insurance free from RAL. And a higher basic. So maybe you should ask yourself why that is.

We're all equal in PARC. All entitled to BUPA, free accident insurance, same money.

The other RAL rep tried to change to PARC a couple of years ago. So that's his opinion.

RAL. They make me laugh. I'd rather poke myself in the eye with a sharp stick.

Think about it. If BUPA is as bad as RAL say, why do they still give it to the long serving guys here. And not you.

Because you're not worth it to RAL.