Actress quits showbiz, spends 6 billion VND to become a pilot

With her artistic career wide open and full of promise, Dieu Thuy suddenly resigned.leave showbiz, turned to the aviation industry. After many years,actressAt the age of 32, she sat down and confided in her decision. She said: "Although I went through many difficulties and my time studying to become a pilot was really hard, I have never regretted or wanted to give up being a pilot."

"I don't intend to return to showbiz, but showbiz keeps coming to me"

- Having acted in films with famous actors such as Binh Minh and Duc Tien and won awards in many beauty contests, why did you give up art to pursue a career as a pilot?

- The last time I acted in a movie was in 2013, and I have been an actor for more than 7 years now. Actually, at that time, many people invited me to come back to acting, but I still decided to work in my major, which is safety engineering for a foreign furniture company. I only worked for half a year, then I felt tired and suffocated because the work was too hard, I had no time for myself anymore.

One time, I accidentally found an airline recruitment information. I was called for an interview 3 days after submitting my application. Coincidentally, my safety engineering major and foreign language skills helped me pass the flight attendant exam.

After completing the 2-month training course, the first time I stepped on a plane, I knew I loved and would stick with this job. I wanted to switch to studying to be a pilot right away, I applied but the airline was no longer recruiting pilots. I worked as a flight attendant for 2 years then returned to Vietnam and applied to study to be a pilot.

- How long have you stopped acting, and during that time have you ever thought about returning to showbiz?

The last time Dieu Thuy acted in a movie was in 2013.

- I never thought about returning to showbiz, but showbiz still finds me (laughs). Until now, there are still people inviting me to act in movies. To be honest, I signed a contract for 1-2 movies, but I couldn't arrange the time so I had to cancel the role. Right now, I only accept to shoot commercials and attend events if those schedules don't affect my job as a pilot.

It's true that showbiz can make a lot of money. But I've been avoiding those temptations for seven years now, there's no reason I can't do it now. I'm loyal to my career as a pilot.

- What was the most difficult thing you encountered when leaving showbiz to switch to aviation?

- When I thought about becoming a pilot, I was already 24-25 years old. But it wasn't until I was 27 that I officially stopped working as a flight attendant to learn to fly. During those two years, I worked to save money, learned specialized English, and trained my body.

When I was an actress, I was skinny to look good on camera. But when I went for a medical check-up for the aviation industry, I was asked to gain weight because my BMI was too low, several kilos below the standard. The doctor gave me a few months to change my weight, and if I came back for a check-up and still hadn't gained weight, they wouldn't issue me an aviation health certificate.

So for 3 months, I ate a lot, ate anytime, anywhere, even drank hot chocolate at night. As a result, I gained 6 kg. But the extra 6 kg was just enough to touch the balanced BMI, not really the standard weight.

At that time, I was sweating a lot and was very stressed because I forced myself to gain a lot of weight in a short period of time. I tried to eat, and by the time I was licensed to study to become a pilot, I had gained a total of 9 kg compared to when I was a flight attendant. But when I went to the US to study, the program was so hard, I lost all 9 kg and it took me a long time to gain it back. (Laughs)

No salary for several months due to Covid-19

- So what about the process of learning to fly a plane, as a woman studying abroad alone, what problems did you experience?

- When I went to learn to fly, I realized that I was old (27 years old - PV) so I didn't have much time. I had to learn quickly, not giving up any opportunity to fly. I ate and slept at the airport, if a student canceled his practice schedule, I would "jump" in to take his place immediately.

After two years as a flight attendant, I have saved up enough money to pay for my tuition and paid the school in full, so I don't have to worry about tuition fees like many other students. I only have pressure on my personal expenses.

To save money, I bought a used bicycle, so old it couldn't be any older, for150 USD. Then, factoring in the cost of installing lights and buying a bicycle helmet to comply with US law, my transportation costs ballooned to300 USDAt that time, I was the only one riding a bicycle in the whole school. The other students didn't know my name, but as long as I said "bicycle", the whole school would know I was being talked about.

At the age of 27, Dieu Thuy stopped working as a flight attendant and applied to study to become a pilot.

Having a bicycle, I cycled more than 20 km round trip, spending half a day just to go to the supermarket. So every time I go, I try to buy as much as possible, then "carry" it back. If I want to eat cheap vegetables, I go to the market about 5 km from my boarding house to buy them. At that market, the vegetables from the previous day to the next are still fresh, but they are sold at a very cheap price, each box only costs5 USDThat's it. I usually tape the lid of the box up, increasing the storage area. So I have enough vegetables to eat all week long with just5 USD.

Because the school has very few female students, I don't have any roommates. Having to rent a house alone cost me nearly600 USDmonthly rent. I remember, my landlady in America was quite formidable (laughs). She didn't let me use the washing machine, I had to wash my clothes and blankets by hand. In the winter, I washed the blankets by hand so they couldn't dry, I had nothing to cover myself with so I curled up in my sleeping bag to endure the cold. When the temperature dropped to minus 10 degrees, it was too cold for me to wash my clothes anymore, I had to ask to move to another place, then she agreed to let me use the washing machine.

In the summer, the landlady was reluctant to let me use the air conditioner. I had to go to second-hand markets far away from home, and finally found an old fan. I bought the fan.50 USDand brought it back by bike. Oh my god, I was so happy.

- Last year, the aviation industry was severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. How did you get through this difficult year?

- Due to the difficult situation, our employees voluntarily joined hands to help the company by not receiving salary for a short period of time. Some people volunteered to not receive salary for a few months, some asked to receive salary late, depending on each person's decision and dedication. Personally, I also did not receive salary for a couple of months to help the company, but my life during that time was still stable because I had savings.

During the most severe months of the pandemic, flights were cut back a lot, so I had time at home to read books, learn French, clean the house... But that life was too boring. The feeling of being a pilot was ingrained in my blood, and without being able to fly, I missed my job so much. Therefore, just being able to sit in the cockpit was enough for me to be happy, and I didn't care too much about finances or salary.

Now, I fly an average of four flights a day. Most of my time is spent in airports and cockpits. To be honest, I haven’t had a hairdresser in a year. I bought three lipsticks and a powder last year but have only used them a few times because I’m so busy. Sometimes I get home from work so tired that I don’t have the energy to take care of my skin. There are days when I tear open a mask package but fall asleep before I can put it on my face. The next morning when I wake up, the mask is already hard and dry (laughs).

- Being so busy, how do you arrange your married life and family?

- I used to be married to my French boyfriend. But now, because of the nature of our work, we decided to be friends again. I have been single for over a year now. We are happy in our own way.

Cost of pilot training is 5-6 billion dong

- Many people think that being a pilot is a highly paid job, earning billions of dollars every month. As an insider, what is your response?

- Being a pilot is a tough and expensive job. For example, by the time I was officially a pilot, I had spent 5-6 billion dongtuition. We are responsible for the lives of hundreds of passengers. So I think high salary and good treatment is what pilots deserve.

But seriously, the salary of a pilot is not as high as many people say. If we were talking about billions, we would probably have to work for a whole year to earn that much. Since the outbreak, to be honest, our income has dropped a lot.

She revealed that she spent 6 billion to learn to fly a plane.

By the time I became a full-time first officer, I had spent about6 billion dong. That's the amount I can still remember and roughly estimate from USD. I don't count other small, unnamed expenses anymore.

- Specifically, how much did you spend on this trip?

- Amount approx.6 billion dongincluding tuition, internship and living expenses abroad. I traveled between the US and Europe many times to study, so it was quite expensive. My parents gave me 400 million VND, my sister supported me with another 500 million VND, the rest was money I saved from my time acting in movies and working as a flight attendant.

At first, I studied aviation theory in Vietnam for more than 200 million VND. Then, I went to the US to study, in the US I got a scholarship.10,000 USD. Then I added more55,000 USDto study to convert from private pilot license to commercial pilot license.

Because I learned to fly quite well and practiced quickly, I ended up lacking the accumulated flight hours to meet the standards to join Vietnam Airlines. I had to pay for another 50 hours of practice flights, which cost about7,000 USD.

Next, I learned to fly in teams in the US, which cost a lot of money.3,000 USD. But I felt that in the US they did not teach flying in squadrons as well as in the country, so I returned to Vietnam to study this subject again, which also cost me about 200 million VND. In addition, my expenses for food, accommodation, transportation... also cost me about15,000 USD, things are expensive in America.

I also went to Europe to learn how to change from a twin-propeller to an Airbus jet, which cost me another 20,000 euros. I also studied long-distance flight training, which cost me more.85,000 USD.

Another 10,000 euros for a real plane take-off and landing course in Denmark. Since renting a real plane is very expensive, five other students and I pooled our money to save money. We flew real civilian planes, except that they were empty flights with no passengers.