Business

Mayday: PIA pilots, management heading for confrontation

Pilots refuse to operate flights without proper rest, says Palpa

Saad Hasan June 11, 2015

Pilots refuse to operate flights without proper rest, says Palpa. PHOTO: AFP

KARACHI: Pilots of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and the management are heading for another confrontation on issues ranging from a revision in the agreement covering allowances to mandatory rest before taking flights.

The cockpit crew of the airline is clubbed together under the Pakistan Airline Pilots’ Association (Palpa), the most influential body representing the aviation industry professionals.

Whenever relations between pilots and the management become sour, the airline’s operation and revenue take a bad hit.

According to Palpa, pilots have started to refuse to operate flights without proper rest and as a consequence at least eight departures including one to London from Lahore have been cancelled on Thursday.

But on the other hand, the airline has dismissed the information as a “lie”.

“No flight has been cancelled. This is a lean season for us, hence we are merging flights together. This will go on for three to four days,” said a PIA spokesperson.

Nevertheless, Palpa President Amir Hashmi said pilots were not being allowed proper rest and being called to perform duty on short notice in violation of internationally accepted rules.

“It’s a safety hazard. In some instances, pilots are informed about their schedule two hours before a flight. That’s completely unacceptable,” he said. PIA has around 450 pilots for a fleet of just 25 operational aircraft at any given time – that’s 18 pilots per jet. But Hashmi said the number of senior pilots who can fly bigger jets like Boeing 777 is only 80.

“Management wants to talk but what is the point when they are not willing to listen to us,” he said.

While he didn’t talk much about it, the agreement with the management covering the salaries and allowances of pilots also seems to be a point of contention.

“Everyone works for money and when it comes to PIA pilots they have genuine demands. Don’t forget we have sacrificed much better job offers only to serve our national flag carrier.”

Published in The Express Tribune, June 11^th, 2015.

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COMMENTS (10)

cautious | 8 years ago | Reply The real confrontation will take place if PIA ever gets sold ... the acquiring airline will likely terminate employment for most if not all the PIA pilots.

Tahira Khan | 8 years ago | Reply PIA employees, in every department, have been eating up PIA. With such greed and lack of foresightedness, that the fortunes of employees have swelled but the organization has completely failed. It is on ventilator, with Govt money coming from tax payers of this nation, keeping this financially and morally bankrupt org alive. The culture of PIA is so unprofessional and deeply faulty that it is not possible to revive this org. The rules are made with such partiality for pilots (that I know of) that they earn more than any other airline with poor discipline and productivity. They are manipulators and their rules are laughable, non commercial.

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syed baqar ahsan | 8 years ago | Reply Our country is full of lords and only know their rights by getting more & more perks,relaxations with sense of duty and sacrifice or pride .Managements of PCB,Hockey,Football are also doing the same,motto is grab more &more.

Ovais | 8 years ago | Reply Please do leave asap , PIA should have proper training and keep hiring new talents so that these idiots stop whining .

H.A.Khan | 8 years ago | Reply PIA with 450 pilots for 25 aircraft gives 18 pilot per aircraft.No wonder PIA is bleeding financially The industry average in USA is given below.The numbers are individual pilots per aircraft, not flight crews: Delta: 14.5 American: 13.25 Continental: 12.5 USAirways: 11.75 Southwest: 10.5

affan | 8 years ago | Reply 18 pilot per jet . that give every pilot 17 flight rest before his next flight.

Lt Col Imtiaz Alam (retd) | 8 years ago | Reply Throw them out and Hire new one's or sell the Airline. No sacred cows.They are the reason of the decline of the Industry.

Kokab | 8 years ago | Reply Flying with PIA should be avoided at all costs! Every time you step into a PIA plane, you are taking risk. Close down this airline before 100s of people are unnecessarily killed because of the incompetent in-ept management and it's a matter of time when they crash a jet with hundreds innt.PIA is a government funded corrupt organization where at every level of management there is incompetence, unprofessionalism and nepotism. No matter how much money they keep plowing in PIA one day it will have to be dismantled or the nation should be ready to pay billions of dollars to keep this joke alive. My friends. Your life is more precious. PIA is compromising air safety and continuously violating air safety standards, and putting lives of passengers and crew in danger. There are no safety regulations at all. I would rather swim than fly by PIA.

Burki | 8 years ago | Reply Summer is lean travel season for PIA? From top to bottom, this dying white elephant organization is stuffed with such genius "professionals" And if the report is true about pilots refusing to fly before taking mandatory breaks for rest, then that raises another intriguing question: How come an airline overloaded with thousands and thousands employees, there aren't enough pilots per plane to meet the mandatory rest period requirement?

Brar | 8 years ago | Reply 450 Pilots to man the fleet of 25 Air crafts is not it strange. We sacrificed better options to serve the National carrier no it is hypocracy always demanding more salary, more allowances.

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