Chairman PIA claims only a minority of pilots creating crisis

KARACHI: Chairman Pakistan International Airline (PIA) Nasir Jaffar on Tuesday said that out of 107 flights today only two flights faced setbacks.

Apprising the media of the current situation regarding the standoff between PIA and PALPA, Jaffar said that one flight was delayed today due to bad weather, while one was canceled due to the absence of a pilot.

He added that all haj flights are coming in on time without any issues.

The chairman claimed that the pilots who are creating problems are very few in number while majority of them are being cooperative, adding that solutions should be found through talks.

Jaffar admitted that several passengers are facing difficulties and he is extremely sorry for the state of affairs.

Elaborating on the demands made by the pilots, Chairman PIA said that PALPA wishes immediate replacement of the director of flight operations, withdrawal of all show-cause notices, and to fix seniority according to their own terms.

He added that notices to two pilots were sent by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and not by PIA.

More than 70 flights, including 30 international, have been cancelled so far as the standoff between PIA and PALPA continues on the sixth consecutive day.

The government on Monday rejected most of the demands put forward by the airline’s pilots association to end the standoff on pay and other working conditions after two days of failed talks.

PIA has suffered a loss of Rs500 million so far due to the crisis.