Int’l pilots body offers to help with Pak aviation issues

KARACHI/LAHORE: The International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Association (IFALPA) has written to Prime Minister Imran Khan, suggesting only independent international bodies such as IFALPA, IATA and ICAO can help effectively address the problems Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and Pakistan’s wider aviation community are facing.

IFALPA represents more than 140,000 professional pilots around the world in nearly 100 countries, of which Pakistan’s pilots association, PALPA, is a member association.

In the letter dated July 7, IFALPA president Jack Netskar said the international pilot community is “deeply concerned about the unfounded statements” made by Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khjan declaring that many “Pakistani commercial pilots hold licenses that, in his words, are ‘fake’”. The body said such statements were “on the brink of being reckless”.

The aviation minister while presenting an initial investigation report to Parliament into the PIA plane crash in which 98 people had been killed, had said 40 per cent of the country’s pilots held “dubious licenses”.

The IFALPA president added: “It is very clear to all independent observers that there are problems within Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and perhaps the wider aviation community within Pakistan which the Minister of Aviation seems quick to highlight.

“Any of these problems, perceived or real, need to be immediately dealt with for the sake of aviation safety; an interest we all keenly share. With respect, we strongly believe that those problems can only be addressed effectively at this point with the participation of independent international bodies such as IFALPA, IATA and ICAO.”

The body said it wanted to see “PIA return to its historical place as an aviation leader in the region”. It also offered its assistance “in both the ongoing accident investigation of PK 8303 as well as with any task force that is created to deal with the licensing scandal”.

Meanwhile, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) suspended licenses of 34 more pilots of the PIA suspected of holding fake degrees. According to a notification, licences will remain suspended till the inquiry against the pilots has not been completed.

A day earlier, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) ordered its member states to bar Pakistani pilots from working. The EASA asked its member countries for details of Pakistani pilots. The letter sent to member states by EASA stated that the CAA has revealed irregularities in the issuance of 40 per cent of licences.

Moreover, EASA in its letter recommended member states “not to schedule such pilots for operations performed under their TCO consideration”.