I am seriously considering moving the family to Vietnam to fly there. I was wondering if anyone has made the move, has kids, and what the experience has been to date. Questions such as education, living conditions, costs, medical insurance, and housing immediately come to mind.

I have the info from Rishworth, with a very nice FAQ. I was looking to get some detailed perspective from an expat that is already there in HCMC.

Thanks!
Randy
[email protected]

You might be able to find some threads on www.pprune.com.

I'll take this one by one.......
Kids: I have one and one on the way but I have not moved my children out here. The schooling is good but expensive (1000 USD per month/per child).

Experience: So far the experience has been overall positive.......the flying is easy (almost all domestic with average 10 hour duty days or less......the only overnight expats usually get is in HAN (hanoi) and the hotel is a 5 star with plenty of restaurants around). The way they fly the Airbus is straight Airbus SOP and all NPAs are selected/selected (no managed VOR approaches allowed). The crews are pretty good to fly with ......if you are going as a CPT then you will fly with mostly low time Vietnamese locals. If as a FO mostly expats (US/Philipeno/Russian/Aussie/Kiwi.....etc.).

Living conditions: You can find good places close to the airport (houses for 1500-1800 USD per month) or if you are coming with kids in tow......AnPhu and Phu Mi Hung are the places to be and are a bit more expensive. But they are also close to the best International schools so there is the tradeoff. This is a 3rd world country so plan accordingly.....only drink bottled water etc.

Costs: Food?.......dirt cheap (good meal for 60-100000 Dong.......14000 dong=1USD) Beer also dirt cheap (20-30000 dong). Cross-town taxi for 80-100000 Dong. 90% of the pilots AND the population has a Moto-bike to get around town (50USD per month for rental).

Contract companies: I am PARC and am very pleased with the ongoing service they have provided and the medical insurance they offer is said to be better (BUPA Gold Scheme). Not trying to sway you in either direction as far as contract companies but do a little research on them both.

Schedules: They change alot so be prepared. Everybody starts with the 6 and 2 shcedule. If you want you can change that to a 5 and 3 or a 4 and 4 schedule with a change in the salary of course. I just changed to a 5/3 split due to the time you lose travelling back and forth to the US.

Hope some of this helps........pm if you wish.



Oh yeah one more thing : GLENN'S GOTTA GO !!!!!!!

This is the national airline of Vietnam. It is a 4-star standard airline. Overall this is a quality airline and totally deserved for you to go. You can book airline tickets at Traveltop

A message from a commissioned officer. Gives new meaning to the term.

4 star? As in cartoons with 4 stars spinning around your head after the hard landings and runway excursions? They average one a month of each now.

It was a much better company when the OP started this post. Still the same pay as 10+ years ago but much worse FOs who fall asleep all the time and haven't quite grasped the function of the rudder in crosswinds.

If you're interested in Vietnam go to Jetstar. The Parc insurance is bad (BUPA) but the new chief pilot is a good guy.

Vietname airlines hire FOs and train expats with no type experience?

I researched SE Asia somewhat. I also agree that VietJet is, overall, better than Vietnam Airlines. pprune.org posters are not liking Vietnam Airlines at the present time.

A pilot I know just got small Airbus DEC, with no airbus experience, for Jetstar Pacific, based in SGN. I had never heard of them (they are one of the 5? Jetstar airlines). I was surprised they were hiring DEC with NO time in type.

Most people I have talked to said SGN is either better than Hanoi, or better for expats. If you want to get around efficiently in either city, a scooter is a necessity. I think that Hanoi would be cheaper living costs than SGN.