The stand-off between Pakistan International (PIA) and the Pakistan Airline Pilots Association (PALPA) continued for the fourth consecutive day today we well. In fact over 55 flights were cancelled by the previous afternoon and the list is expected to grow longer.
Thousands of passengers who have paid good money and trusted the national carrier continue to hang in limbo, with several of them Hajj pilgrims who are waiting to return home. PIA yesterday extended an official invitation to PALPA to sit down for negotiations.
A delegation of PALPA has departed from Karachi for Islamabad today where it will meet the Prime Minister’s Adviser on Aviation Shujat Azeem for negotiations. The strike, however, will continue during this time with passengers continuing to suffer the consequences of cancelled flights.
The government is considering including pilots’ duties into mandatory service, sources told Geo News on Sunday. According to the sources, the pilots will not be able to go on strike if their employment is converted into mandatory service.
The government is also considering bringing in pilots from abroad, the sources added.
PIA’s senior pilots are receiving over Rs1.5million per month in salaries, with the government spending over Rs3 billion per annum for pilots’ benefits and facilities.
The new demands put forth by the pilots will increase pressure on the government’s already-burdened kitty.
To recap; the issue boiled over on Thursday the 1st of October when according to PIA, pilots began calling in sick at the last minute, disrupting flight schedules. PALPA claims the disruptions are because the management has inducted more aircraft than it has airmen to fly them and is unable to manage scheduling properly.
On Friday, the PIA chairman in a press conference said that the “doors are open for talks, and the matter should be resolved smartly rather than emotionally.”
On the surface, it appears the pilots suddenly decided to go on strike, an impression that was evident in a statement issued by PIA on Thursday which stated that PALPA was asking pilots “to refuse flights at the last minute, disrupting flight schedules” which the PIA says resulted in the cancellations.
PIA had claimed in the same statement, that due to “the irresponsible attitude of PALPA at a crucial time, [the] Hajj flight schedule will also be affected and PALPA would be directly responsible for any misery caused to the Hujjaj, including those who are injured.”
The authenticity of this impression comes into question since PALPA had notified the airline management on the 15th of September that it would no longer be extending any waivers in the form of pilots performing duties beyond the stipulated Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL).
PALPA had been extending waivers on a daily basis to PIA in the form of pilots flying beyond the stipulated flight duty time limitation (FDTL), Hashmi said.
“It is not ethically or morally possible for us to continue extending favours to the airline management,” Hashmi told Geo.tv on Thursday adding: “Our pilots extend favours and are then penalized for doing so.”
An example of the penalization that Hashmi was upset about is that of Captain I. Kaleem and Captain Zahid who were suspended for one and two years respectively for violating the FDTL.
Amid the blame game that has ensued after the issues between PALPA and PIA boiled over, the ultimate losers have been the passengers, especially those who are currently at foreign ports waiting to return home but are now in dire straits because of cancelled flights.
Since Friday, PIA management has been trying to resolve the issues and summoned a meeting which according to PALPA, they were not invited to.
On Saturday the PIA management extended an invitation to PALPA to officially sit down for negotiations, in this regard a letter and communication was sent to PALPA chairman and his reply is awaited.
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