I closely observed the hegemony of the pilots’ community and the submissive attitude of almost all managements to it
KARACHI: I am a retired PIA employee. During my service with PIA, I closely observed the hegemony of the pilots’ community and the submissive attitude of almost all managements to it, leading to huge losses for PIA and unparalleled benefits for the pilots. The government must take a stand in order to tackle their designs. PIA’s pilots enjoy enormous financial benefits, much more than what the pilots of private airlines enjoy. Yet, their duty time limitations are lower than those of pilots of private airlines. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) follows international safety standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation. Accordingly, the CAA has set maximum duty limits for pilots and flying within those limits is safe. Private airlines follow these limits but PIA pilots fly according to limits agreed between the Pakistan Airline Pilots’ Association (PALPA) and PIA in the much talked-about working agreement. These maximum limits have been kept low to suit the pilots of the national airline.
PALPA always talks about waivers and concessions that it grants to its employer, PIA. These waivers basically involve extending the duty time limits of PIA pilots from “working agreement limits” to “CAA limits” and are granted by PALPA on routes and flights of its choice. Every now and then, especially during or close to the Hajj season, PALPA withdraws these waivers and twists the arm of the PIA management to squeeze out more benefits for its members. The PIA-PALPA agreement limits the duty time for any one flight to 10 hours. The duty of pilots starts 60 minutes before the flight takes off and ends 30 minutes after it lands. This means blocks-off to blocks-on cannot be over 8.5 hours. This has been agreed to by PIA, knowing well that many flights out of Pakistan take more than 8.5 hours. The PIA management succumbs to PALPA pressure every year and increases financial and other benefits for pilots, only to get blackmailed again the following year. It has never thought of revising the working agreement to bring duty times of pilots in conformity with CAA rules. PIA has the maximum number of pilots per aircraft; yet, it always faces a shortage of pilots due to intentional mismanagement of their deployment. Young pilots are kept blocked at lower equipment (turboprops) so that senior pilots become indispensable and receive maximum flying and overtime.
Previous PIA managements consisted of airline employees, but they were repeatedly deceived by PALPA. The present PIA management, consisting mostly of non-aviation professionals, may not be able to handle the pilots and may end up granting them even more benefits without getting anything in return for PIA. The airline should review all clauses of agreement with PALPA to ensure that it does not get blackmailed by it in the future. Special benefits extended to PALPA’s office-bearers should be withdrawn and except for the position of chief pilot and the director of flight operations, no other administrative position should be assigned to pilots. If the recruitment, training and scheduling is done by the human resource department, the CAA-specified duty time limitations are implemented, career plans are changed for PIA’s benefit by implementing the policy of moving pilots from the right seat to left seat, i.e., from first officer to captain of the same aircraft, PIA will have a surplus of pilots. It is suggested that while negotiating with PALPA, the aviation division should take advice from those who understand the intricacies of past and existing agreements.
Rana I Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, November 14th, 2015.
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