The recruitment demand of Vietnamese airlines is forecast to surge this year as the aviation and tourism markets are recovering and some projects to establish new airlines are in the pipeline, local air carriers said.

A Vietnamese student is experiencing pilot training in a flight simulator cockpit. Photo: Vietnam Airlines

Bamboo Airways is recruiting more personnel as it is expanding its network. This airline is announcing job vacancies for pilots, flight attendants, technicians, and department officials on its website.

The fast-growing airline offers a maximum income of up to US$13,300 per month for the captain of a wide-body Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and $8,000 for a co-pilot. Captain and co-pilot of narrow-body aircraft would earn about $10,450 and $6,300, respectively. 

Such the salary is higher than the average in the market before the pandemic, local insiders said. 

Since the end of last year, this airline has been recruiting flight attendants offering five-star flight attendants a monthly income of up to $1,500, and $3,000 for a chief flight attendant. 

At a recent seminar in late February, Nguyen Ngoc Trong, Deputy General Director of Bamboo Airways said the airline will conduct regular flights to Europe and the US in the second quarter of this year. Therefore, it is seeking permission from the regulatory body to increase the fleet, with the addition of between 5 to 10 airplanes each year.

Similarly, Vietjet Air also announced the recruitment of captains and co-pilots for Airbus A320 and A330 aircraft until the end of this year.

A representative from Vietravel Airlines, a newcomer, said it is also hiring pilots for its Airbus A320 planes and flight attendants as international air routes are being restored. “This move is aimed at rolling out the expansion plan to six aircraft and operating new international routes to Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia from the third quarter,” he underlined.

As such, this year, the labor supply for the domestic aviation industry may be scarce again, leading to competition for human resources among local air carriers, and the chance of recruiting high-quality staff with affordable pay becomes slimmer, he said.

At a seminar last month, Bui Doan Ne, Vice Chairman of Vietnam Aviation Association said the Government’s decisions about reopening international air routes and preparing for tourism resumption from March 15 have created favorable conditions for the aviation industry to stay competitive in the provision of air services to/from Vietnam.

However, Ne acknowledged that the move also poses great challenges for Vietnam’s aviation and tourism industries, especially ensuring the safety of passengers and the community in the complicated pandemic situation.

Bui Minh Dang, Deputy Head of the Air Transport Department under the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, said the restoration of aviation and tourism activities is being sped up. In the average scenario, the Vietnamese aviation industry will transport 42-43 million passengers in 2022, equivalent to 50% of the 2019 total, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV)’s forecast.

Among the 43 million travelers, there will be about eight million international passengers, including six million tourists.

The CAAV assessed the market has shown good signs of recovery and may consider the issuance of establishing new airlines in the near future.