Ministry of Transport asks Vietnam Airlines to explain pilot training

Last week, the Ministry of Transport sent a document requesting Vietnam Airlines to explain its pilot training and recruitment process, after National Assembly delegate Nguyen Sy Cuong, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee, sent a letter reflecting on some negative aspects.

Some Vietnam Airlines pilots have quit their jobs because they disagree with the pay policy and protest the rule that they must give 120 days notice before quitting. Illustration photo: Xuan Hoa.

"If Vietnam Airlines' report shows signs of violations, the Ministry will assign specialized agencies to conduct an inspection," said Mr. Nguyen Tri Duc - Chief of Office of the Ministry of Transport.

In a letter sent to Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The in June, delegate Nguyen Sy Cuong stated that the socialization of pilot training of Vietnam Airlines has many shortcomings.

Specifically, if in the past the selection was strict, now pilots only need enough money.pay tuition to be able to go to school. VRegarding pilot training schools, Mr. Cuong reflected that most of them are small, less well-known schools in the US, so the quality of teaching is low. In some schools, students only need to pay to pass the exam, or even pay to be recorded as having enough flight hours. The process of training, testing, interviewing, and transferring pilots is also considered by Mr. Cuong to have many shortcomings. There is even a phenomenon of offering prices for interviews to change aircraft types or upgrade from co-pilot to captain.

"The above problems have caused the quality of pilots to decline significantly. Meanwhile, it is not easy for talented people to change jobs because of the circular from the Ministry of Transport," Mr. Nguyen Sy Cuong wrote.

"I have contacted a number of pilots, including my family members, who are working in the Vietnam Airlines flight crew, so I have received many conflicting opinions. These pilots are collecting evidence to clarify the negative aspects," said Mr. Cuong.

In a document sent to the Ministry of Transport in response to the opinion of delegate Nguyen Sy Cuong, the leader of the Civil Aviation Authority said,Regarding pilot training, the Department considers based on the degree records, the study process abroad and the degrees and certificates issued by the authorities where the students were trained, as the basis for recognizing the pilot's license.

"The delegates commented that most pilot schools are small and have low training quality, but in reality these schools have been approved by the Civil Aviation Administration of countries such as schools in the US, New Zealand, Australia and Europe," the Civil Aviation Administration's document said.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority, pilot training output is based on two main conditions: the training organization is approved by an ICAO member country and is evaluated by the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam. Pilots must also be tested and evaluated by the Civil Aviation Authority of the training country to issue a license.

Regarding the shortcomings in the pilot training process when working at the airline, the Civil Aviation Authority said that it needs time to verify.

“The problems raised by National Assembly delegates do not affect the Department's independent, objective and quality assessment process of pilots before they are granted licenses and allowed to operate," the leader of the Civil Aviation Authority affirmed..

On Vietnam Airlines' side, the airline representative said that they will report to clarify the opinions of National Assembly delegate Nguyen Sy Cuong on July 31.

In May, a group of Vietnam Airlines (VNA) pilots sent a petition to Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh regarding the content of Circular 41 and Circular 21 of the Ministry of Transport. In the petition, the pilots analyzed that the circular violated the Labor Law, making it difficult for those who wanted to resign.

According to the leader of Vietnam Airlines, in May, the airline recorded 7 pilots submitting resignation applications. These were all people trained under the State's regime, however, the compensation level for each person is different depending on each study program abroad. The lowest level that pilots must compensate is about 200 million VND. "We implement the regulations when pilots quit their jobs according to the circular of the Ministry of Transport, pilots who are invested in training by the State are responsible for reimbursing training costs when the contract is terminated," said the leader.