Deduction in pilots’ salaries: IHC seeks reply from CAA, PIA

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Friday served notices on Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) in a petition against deduction in salaries of pilots working with national airlines.

IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah conducted hearing into a petition filed by 21 pilots against deduction in their salaries.

During hearing, the IHC chief justice remarked that maybe the PIA had shortage of funds due to which it was deducting from salaries.

The court rejected the request of petitioner for issuance of a stay order against the PIA decision. The petitioner's lawyer Syed Ahmed Hassan Shah pleaded that if the institution had no funds, it should terminate the pilots instead of deducting from salaries.

Justice Minallah remarked that the court couldn't interfere in the financial matters of any department. “How could we judge the future of national airlines?” He further remarked that people of the country were also stakeholders of PIA.

The lawyer said that the department should resolve the issue of salaries, adding that the PIA had decided to deduct 25 percent salaries of the pilots. The national airlines was not authorised to take such a decision in accordance with law, he added. The court sought reply from respondents till September 15, and adjourned the case.