United Airlines Checks Out Vietnam

Anticipating that the U.S. government will eventually lift a ban on commercial activity with Vietnam, United Airlines is trying to lay the groundwork to establish flight service to that Southeast Asian nation.

United Chairman Stephen M. Wolf met last week met with top aviation officials in Hanoi to convey his company’s interest in establishing commercial service to Vietnam after a lifting of the U.S. government embargo on dealings with that country.

The embargo, in place since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, prohibits Americans from engaging in commerce with Vietnam. The United States has indicated a willingness to normalize ties and lift the embargo if Hanoi helps resolve the question of American servicemen listed as missing in action from the war.

Wolf obtained U.S. State Department permission before visiting Hanoi, said Lawrence Nagin, senior vice president and general counsel at United.

Nagin said Wolf wanted to determine if Vietnamese officials are interested in providing United landing rights in Vietnam should the embargo be lifted.

“The talks were positive and cordial,” Nagin said. “Vietnam is very interested in establishing air transportation relations with the United States.”

Nagin said Wolf launched the initiative because United believes such an air link could be lucrative.

“There is a very large Vietnamese population in the United States, and we believe commercial opportunities would flow if relations are normalized,” he said. “Air transportation builds bridges between nations, and we would like to play a role.”

Some business executives with an interest in Vietnam are encouraged by the United initiative.

“It’s a good sign,” said Yukuo Takenaka, head of Takenaka & Co., a Los Angeles-based investment firm with financial interests in Asia.

“Vietnam’s labor costs are among the cheapest in the world. The Vietnamese people are tremendously skilled and well-educated. Many of our foreign competitors are already investing.”