Passengers suffer as first phase of govt-Palpa talks fails

KARACHI: Passengers suffered as the first phase of negotiations between the Aviation Division and Pakistan Airline Pilots Association (Palpa) on Sunday ended without a breakthrough and the deadlock persisted.
However, the spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said the talks were successful and a breakthrough was expected today (Monday).
“It’s status quo and no agreement was reached during the meeting,” a Palpa spokesman said. “We have put our demands and also gave detailed explanations... now it’s up to them to respond,” he said.
The dispute between airline management and its pilots continues to cripple the national carrier resulting in cancellation of around 60 flights in four days. Due to the standoff, the PIA suffered losses of millions of rupees and the passengers suffered a lot. The dispute surfaced after the watchdog CAA suspended licences of two pilots for up to two years for operating flights without its permission.
The aviation watchdog in an earlier statement said the PIA pilots deliberately violated the flight safety rules and disregarded the CAA regulations and that the aviation watchdog had followed all formalities of legal proceedings in order to give the cockpit crew a fair chance to justify the reasons of such gross safety violations.
It said the pilots failed to justify their actions and, therefore, “a punitive action against the air crew, as per the Civil Aviation Rules, has been imposed.”
Palpa said the officials of Aviation Division will meet the senior management of the national flag carrier today (Monday) and apprise them of the meeting with the pilot body.
He said the pilots body hopes that the government will revert after discussing their demands with the airline management.
“We are in Islamabad and hope another round of meeting with the government officials to end the dispute,” he said. “But as of now the situation has not changed and the airline’s pilots will continue to operate according to the last agreement with the management.”
Sources said Palpa had discussed immediate withdrawal of all “illegal disciplinary proceedings against its member pilots”, new aviation policy, PIA’s 2011/2013 working agreement with the pilots body and outstanding issues related to pension, medical, training and tickets.
Captain Suhail Ahmed, General Secretary Palpa, said the airline pilots have not disturbed any of the Haj flights even during the standoff with the management.
“Pilots are not operating those flights where more than one pilot and proper rest are required... we cannot compromise on the safety of the passengers,” Ahmed said. He said pilots were not exercising a “go slow” or observing a strike, but they were not taking on extra work and this was why the flights were cancelled.
Airlines officials said Palpa’s “go slow” because of following “the book” and last minute calling in sick were causing cancellations and flight delays. Last week on Thursday, at least 14 pilots reported sick. Ahmed said pilots reported “sick” according to the Air Navigation Order Clause 7.2, which allows pilots to report sick and they can refuse flight duty at the last moment.
PIA has a fleet of 41 aircraft which includes Boeing 777, Airbus A320 and ATR, and around 436 pilots.
Meanwhile, IFALPA, the international body of pilots association, expressed concern over the standoff between the airline and its pilots.
“IFALPA supports talks between the government and the airline’s pilots and hopes that the government will keep the airline, its pilots and passengers’ security on top priority during the meeting,” it said in a statement.