Went from being a System Administrator for Qantas in Sydney to Mortgage Broking to IT Trainer for a Hospital in Auckland and now flying for Vietnam Airlines A321 based in Ho Chi Minh City.
Have 2 days off. Shoot your questions :)
[AMA] I'm a First Officer on The Airbus 321 Flying for VNA Based in Ho Chi Minh City. Ask Me Anything
tomleonhart on 15/08/2024 - 17:31
Last edited 15/08/2024 - 17:32
Last edited 15/08/2024 - 17:32
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How did you make such a big career transition?
Long Story short, Have always wanted to be a pilot as a kid. Thought I'll put it off and be happy with an office job paying decent money. Then met a couple of guys while working for QF who had done the same thing and now they had massive regret when they turned 50 because they have ran out of time. So I decided to sell my house and gave it a go.
And what's it like sitting in a cockpit for hours on end?
Pretty tiring but at least we do a lot of short hops in a day i.e. <2 hours so we do lots of take off and landings to keep ourselves entertained. Unsure how the boys and girls in the big fleet A350/B787 feel sitting in their cockpit for 10 - 14 hours on end.
How long did you need to put in study & practice to become a pilot?
Mind you the route I took is not normal and is considered a shortcut by AUS/NZ or USA standard. Usually it takes a lot longer.
2 years from Ab initio to commercial pilot which I was trained in New Zealand. This includes Private Pilot, Multi Engines rating, Instrument Rating and then Commercial Pilot.
Then a further 6 months into ground school of the new aircraft type i.e. the A320/A321. Then about 4 -5 months in the simulator. Then about 5 - 6 months in the real aeroplane under supervision. Then once you pass the line check, i.e. an examiner said you're ok, then you become a junior First Officer.
I must admit, starting of the journey I have had a lot more hair than I do now.
How much did your training cost?
For me it was around 100k NZD, including PPL, MEIR, CPL, Frozen ATPLs and MCC. Type Rating and Line training was bonded by the airlines for 10 years.
@tomleonhart: Ouch. Are you a math wizz to learn how to fly commercially? I always see in movies where they have to quick on the fly calculations when instrumentations are down. Is that real or fake?
@Duckie2hh: Very basic math. Mostly just x3 or /3 and /2. Easy peasy.
That said, it’s funny seeing new pilots lose their most basic math skill while being put under stress. I know I have though 15 * 3 = 150 once.l during my training.
What's the ballpark income for a pilot these days?
depending on the aircraft type you're flying and also rank and seniority.
A quick search suggests in Australia it varies from 80k - 300k lol. Vietnam Airlines pays a lot less but still decent enough for me to have a family in New Zealand.
decent enough for me to have a family in New Zealand.
Who's paying for your family in Vietnam?
lol. I'm paying for my mother and sister if that's what you're implying ;))
@tomleonhart: Dont worry, twas just a cheeky joke because pilots, like many professions where one needs to travel for work, are often associated with that kind of thing 😜
pays a lot less
a lot less than 80K?
How is the job market in 2024? How has the employment rate compared to pre-COVID years?
How much does it cost all up to become a commercial pilot? All your 2 years training & attainment of rating.
What would you consider too late to start training to become a commercial pilot? Early 20s, early 30s? 40 yo ?
Cheers :)
How is the job market in 2024? How has the employment rate compared to pre-COVID years?
TBH Not sure about the job market as I started just as Covid gone away. And I'm quiet happy at the moment so haven't really looked.
How much does it cost all up to become a commercial pilot? All your 2 years training & attainment of rating.
For me it was around 100k NZD, including PPL, MEIR, CPL, Frozen ATPLs and MCC. Type Rating and Line training was bonded by the airlines for 10 years.
What would you consider too late to start training to become a commercial pilot? Early 20s, early 30s? 40 yo ?
I'm not experience enough to comment to be honest but I'll hazard a guess late 30s and early 40s is what i consider too late. Ultimately you'll want to be a Captain, if you start in your 40s, by time you have enough experience to go command, I doubt the Airlines will pay for it.
I have no questions for you but I will fly with VNA from Sydney sometime in September via stand-by partnered airline travel.
It would be cool if you were the first officer on the flight I will be boarding from Sydney on that day.
I won’t be haha. My aircraft type can’t reach Sydney from Saigon.
where are your most common routes then? will be in VN in Dec, so would be cool to see if your my pilot.
On that note, what's the ratio of westerner to VN pilots for VNA, especially domestic VN routes?Expat to local ratio used to a lot higher pre 2010. But these days if i have to hazard a guess, it will be around 15/1.
@tomleonhart: and do you need to have a local on all your flights if you don't have command in the viet language (for pilot communications to passengers).
Edited as I see in your comments later that you do speak viet@JDMcarfan: No not really. Vna don’t have expat Purser so even if both pilots are foreign, we just need to PA in English. The purser will do the rest.
Because I can speak both Viet and English, I usually tell the Captain and he/she will be happy for me to do the PA.
If you were an officer on Titanic, would you have let the lifeboats launch half filled?
In an ideal word no, but stress plays a great part in any emergency so can’t blame ‘em.
Not related to your flight path but I was wondering,what visas do airline crews have who come into Aus?
We travel on what called General Declarations. Crew general don’t need visa as the destination airport knows who’s coming and what not.
Do staff engage in the mile high club - not you of course, with family back in NZ :) ?
Gosh lol. I’m on a narrow body so haven’t seen it yet. I’m sure there’s stuff going on on the wide body. 🤣
If it’s called road head when you’re driving a car, What’s it called when you’re flying a plane?
A creatively name. Airway.
On a serious note, What would be the dream for you as a pilot?
I’m sort of already living my childhood dream at the moment. Next goal would be becoming a Captain or go back to Qantas.
Aren't Qantas trying to screw over all crew? What is enticing about going there?
Flying for VNA out of Vietnam, are you Viet, know the language or no requirement because everyone speaks English? If you don’t speak Viet, how do you go working there?
Everyone speaks English in VNA. Vietnamese is not a requirement. However I however can speak Vietnamese.
Lots of expat Captain don’t know a word of Vietnamese and they’ve been with the airlines for years.
When do you get to meet the other staff on each flight and is it just senior crew members or all staff on the flight?
Do you hang out with each other at destinations?
Do you get to know other crew members in the plane well over time or is it just a few words before each flight and then another new bunch of crew for the next one?For VNA flight crew, we only meet the Purser or CSM as they call them in Aus. We hardly meet the other flight attendants.
Hanging out with other flight crew at the destination is common. Sometimes the cabin crew would join us, It depends on if our vibe checks out for them. More time than not I find myself walking alone through the street of Incheon or Narita. It allll depends on the personality you meet on the plane that day.
Planning to travel in Vietnam in January next year then onto japan. Not a big fan of long slow train journeys so was thinking of structuring our journey the following so we can utilise air travel domestically. We will have 2.5-3 weeks and planning to visit ho chi minh, nha trang, da nang and hanoi. SYD to DAD (Via SIN as we have points). DAD to SGN, SGN to CXR, CXR to HAN and then finally HAN to HND/NAR for the next leg of our trip.
Do you think this sounds like a reasonable plan? Is domestic air travel in Vietnam fairly reliable and comfortable in regards to on time and cancellations?
Looks pretty reasonable to me. Domestically VNA is pretty reliable. Vietjet is a bit less since their aircraft roll over is higher. But still reasonable enough. Just don’t book domestic to international with less than 3 hours transit.
How was your first take off / landing?
Anything memorable?
Was that the first time you felt like you accomplished your dream?First solo is what every pilot remembers. I remember it very vividly although that was 7 years ago.
The very first landing on my 321 was quite memoriable. I slammed the aircraft to the ground and the flight attendant wanted to killed me haha.
How does it feel to be abused by the GPWS every time you land? lol
Now for my genuine question, did your family in NZ miss you frequently when you first made the career change? How are they now? (I guess you do get to spend time with them on your days off)
I miss my daughters very much. I go back to NZ every 2 months to see them. It is the sole reason I want to go back to Aus or Nz to fly.
I flew back to Melbourne on Vietnam Airlines on Sunday evening. VA is well above Qantas in my experience now and we will be flying with you guys again next year.
Great work!
How do you stop from being locked out of the cockpit by a suicide pilot while also being protected from hijacker passengers?
The cockpit is always locked. Our SOPs demands if one pilot is to go outside, he/she must get a cabin crew in the cockpit until returns.
Have you encountered any GPS spoofing and what training are you given when it happens?
Yep on our way to Bombay. We reverted to old means of navigation with heading and track.
What actually happens when people don’t switch their phones on airplane mode?
I assume very little as there is bound to always be a few. Hell, i sat next to 2 people scrolling tiktok last flight (side note, didn’t think they would get reception in the middle of the ocean? 😅)
It has the potential to interfere with the signal of the navigation system. Having said that, I personally haven’t seen it happened yet. Don’t want to find out on short final though.
At least my fellow passengers would of been able to get one last video off 🤷🏽♂️
Planecrashing#omg#lmao#rizzadaykeepstheplanecrashesaway
Or some rubbish haha.
Oh man….that's great journey..I remember few years back having chat with you about my home loan….
I'm in HCMC and flying on A321 to Danang today. By any chance you are flying it ?
No I’m flying at 9pm tonight. :-(. What’s the flight number ?
VN134
Any flirting with the air stewardess? Or does that only exist in pornos.
Heaps but unfortunately I'm married. Don't let me wife see this.
unfortunately. Fixed it for you.
That's amazing, good on you for living your dreams. My son really wants to be a pilot. He's obsessed with planes. He's still young, not sure if he'll change his mind later, but… What are your thoughts and advice. How easy is it to become a commercial pilot? Is it a stable career? Job satisfaction? Burn out? Career progression?
How easy is it to become a commercial pilot?
Not easy. Even for the route I took which consider a shortcut and cut out the years of low pay in-between finding any flying job and an airlines job.
Is it a stable career?
It is and not at the same time. You'll always be a pilot if you choose to fly with any legacy carrier. They're hard go belly up. But any things happen in the world could disrupt your job, think Covid, GFC, 2/11.
Job satisfaction?
Oh man, I'm getting paid a lot less with VNA compared to sitting in an office working for Auckland hospital. But I know I smile a lot more in the cockpit.
Burn out?
I'm sure there are some if you stick to the same position long enough. But god darn every landing is fun, and we do it 2-4 times a day. Sure helps.
Career progression?
Generally you start as an First officer in the regional, then go to become a Captain, then become a First officer/Captain on the narrow body or become an instructor on the aircraft type that you're trained on. F/O or Captain on the narrow body then can move to F/O or Captain on the wide body.
What are your thoughts and advice
He will have to want to do it. The Chief Pilot at Qantas told me when i told him I was going to quit QF to go flying. "You will face a brick wall in this career multiple times, and when you do, only your eagerness will get you through". I still thank him for that advice!
Wow thanks for that info, I'll pass it on to him :) just wondering, how much time off do you usually get?
At least 7 full nights every month. And every 2 months I have 1 week off.
Have been doing a lot of night flying lately. I could use more sleep haha.
Sounds like you need lots of passion and perseverance. I'm glad you overcame all the challenges and succeeded. My son wants to ask your opinion: what's the best thing about being a pilot, and what's the worst? Also, what's your favourite plane to fly? 😁
My fav plane right now is the 321 :)
The best thing about being pilot is a good landing. Sometimes I do a walkaround and think to myself, how did we bring this 70 something tons metal to the ground everyday ? So good.
The worst is the night schedule and roster. Every month is different and night flying sucks.
plan on getting additional type ratings?
Not really.. unless there’s a reason for it.
How do you manage your jet lags?
How do you manage odd working hours and what is your hobby during your spare time?
How do you manage your biological clock when you move from one time to zone to another?
Other than taking short naps between flights, what allows you to keep you busy in the cockpit?
The cockpit is prone to high sun rays, which affects the skin, what precautions do you take.
Any memorable event or thing that happened with you that you don't mind to share?
How do you manage your jet lags?
Alcohol. Joking I try to stay to my local Timezone. On the narrow body, our maximum time difference is only 3 hours so it is too bad.
How do you manage odd working hours and what is your hobby during your spare time?
I like running. Usually run then watch StarCraft 2 on YouTube. You get used to the odd working hours after a while.
How do you manage your biological clock when you move from one time to zone to another?
See above
Other than taking short naps between flights, what allows you to keep you busy in the cockpit?
Paperwork. Record fuel burnt, time, atc instruction, update etp, meow on 121.5, read a book. Plenty of things to do.
The cockpit is prone to high sun rays, which affects the skin, what precautions do you take.
Religiously putting on sunscreen. I put on sun shade on the ground.
Any memorable event or thing that happened with you that you don't mind to share?
During the state of origin last month, I saw plenty of Aussie onboard, so I decided to say the blues is a better team during my descent PA. I think there was a small riot from the Queenslander. I know getting diss is the last thing they expect to hear flying from Saigon to Da Nang. The Purser didn’t get the joke but said afterwards lots of foreign pax says hi to the F/O. Those must have been from NSW.
meow on 121.5
is that a real thing?!?! what other "silly" things to pilots do in the air when bored?
Lol it happened. It was a joke from me but I have heard it on frequency.
How often do you do medicals, and how does that compare to QANTAS?
Medical is once a year. And How what compared to Qantas ? Unsure what you’re asking.
Ok. I ve heard the medicals are more frequent for QANTAS international pilots.
I dont know hence my question.Medical class 1 is always once a year.
Do you see air turbulence in advance in your systems while flying or it's can't be caught or predicted via latest gadgets and instruments..
Also why pilots or crew do not allow passengers to have a quick peek into cockpit…
There are many types of turbulence. The one we can see involves water I.e. around a thunderstorm or cumulus cloud. We avoid these area.
We can also predict where the turbulence will be in absent of water I.e. hot day will get you thermal turbulence, windy will get mechanical turbulence and jetstream will get you clear air turbulence. These turbulence we can’t see.
Vietnam regulations dont allow unauthorised person to be in the cockpit so as chatty as I am and I’d love to have people coming into the cockpit, we can’t. Funny cause even the cleaner aren’t allowed in the cockpit in VNA. We clean it ourselves.
Do you get to fly first or business class when you return home every few months ?
How did you make such a big career transition? And what's it like sitting in a cockpit for hours on end?