A ‘salary fund’ has been approved for Vietnam Airlines that will be used to close the gap between local pilots and foreign pilots working for the national carrier. Currently, Vietnamese pilots are paid less than half of their foreign counterparts, Vietnam News is reporting.
It’s not clear from the article how the fund will work but it does say: “The financial source to set up the additional salary fund will depend on the financial capacity of Vietnam Airlines to fulfil the planned profit target.” Vietnam Airlines has been running at huge losses for a few years now so its not clear what planned profit targets are being talked about nor how the planned profit targets would be used to calculate the contribution to a local pilot’s pay from the fund.
Ultimately, there are a lot more questions than answers in this article. That said, it does serve to highlight the structural challenges the airline faces as it struggles to return to profitability.