Vietnam Airlines (info please)
 

Anyone flying for VN? I'm currently rated on the A320 with 10,000 hours, considering to apply, any info on T/C's and living in Vietnam?
thanx!

A lot of info
http://www.pprune.org/forums/search.php

better go to Singapore!

hi dani,

unless(maybe) silkair. otherwise VN still better than the rest of LCCs?

singapore
 

What I've heard about Singapore, is that the pay doesn't exactly match the high cost of living... besides I'm a FO looking for a possible upgrade and VN offers that option... but still no words from aviators over there :confused:

ask Kim bell [email protected] about the upgrade :ouch:

thanx....!

If I was you I would ask to Parc Aviation
Dont touch to Risworth
Not too many peoples are happy with them at VN

Pacific Airlines
 

information regarding pay, schedule and enviroment in this company please, are they need pilots Captain and First Officer, are the info given by PARC in their briefing sheet correct????

:ok: Thanks for the info... swift to the Parc

I received the package a couple of weeks ago.

All that was mentioned was a contract till 2009, possibly renewable untill 2011.

No mentioning of any possible upgrades there and from what I hear, VN does not upgrade expats on the A330.

Some ozzies got upgraded on the A320, but only after 4 years living and working there.

Anybody with more info?

VAC upgrade on A320
 

IMHO in theory you can be upgraded but REMEMBER - you still have to pay VAC for that so keep your eyes open on that option before you sign your contract!:rolleyes:
Cheers!:ok:

Hi,

Why Parc Aviation is better that Richworth for this contract ??

you should ask to the 30 or 50 pilots on contract with Rishworth who want to change for Parc

" you should ask to the 30 or 50 pilots on contract with Rishworth who want to change for Parc "

It is what I am doing, if one of them wants to answer !

no matter which contract company you are they are making between 1000 .-and 2000.- on your back, so if they offer you 10.000.- they getting much more in their pocket before they pay you!
all this contract companies seem to be your friends, but basically they just are keen on the money they make on your back.

I can tell you that many people do prefer PARC because they pay a bit earlier and PARC tends to stand up to the company when it comes to contract and operational issues, with RAL it's a different story, other differences are insurance options, BUPA Gold scheme with PARC, ACE with RAL.

insurance
 

Dear Dream Land,

What are the differences between BUPA Gold scheme and ACE in a few words please?

Thanks;)

With BUPA Gold, everything is paid for up front.

With other plans they sometimes make you pay and then you claim it.

Agree with LIS, ACE appears to be better suited to Americans since I believe it covers them in the USA. You pay up front for ACE, all claims then must be submitted by snail mail to a PO box in New Zealand, although a very slow process, people are getting reimbursed for everything submitted and no yearly minimum like BUPA.

thanks for that

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.

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

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.

Good info, Dreamland, what about living in Vietnam?

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

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.

Hi,
What about the layovers and night stops. How much one can expect per month?

Many thanks in advance :ok:

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.

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. :E

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

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.

What is the shortage of F/Os due to? New aircraft arriving? People leaving? Just wondering why the urgent need for F/Os.

because a whole bunch have gone home or elsewhere

Were are people leaving to?

Somewhere
:):):)

Many Russians FO's going back to the mother country for commands. Some Aussies going home to Tiger.

So what are the interview questions like? Anybody care to share?

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.