The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Employees on Tuesday took back their countrywide protest call and appealed to airline employees’ unions to end their strike and restore flight operations on all airports.
“A kind friend advised us to call off the strike. The assurance given to us by the government to resolve the issues is enough to make us call off the strike,” JAC President Captain Sohail Baloch told reporters at a press conference. He added that the JAC representatives were going to Lahore to meet Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. “Some conversation has already been done with the chief minister but some more important issues have to be discussed in Lahore.”
“We will prove that we can revive the ailing national airline. I don’t see why we can’t do that if we all work hard and are able to revive PIA within a time of six months to a year,” he added.
He further said that the government and PIA management were in a fix to resume flight operations amid absence of fitness report of the airplanes or technical and mechanical clearance from the engineering department. He said that the PIA planes were flying without proper safety checks, which was risky for the airline.
“We will talk with the chief minister on behalf of the PIA unions and will not accept the privatisation of the airline without safeguarding the interest of the employees,” Baloch said. “After this strike, the PIA employees are better placed to negotiate.”
He further asked the employees to resume their duties and said that if they faced hurdles in restoring flight operations, they could contact him and the PIA management.
Before the press conference, the employees waited to hear the news of any development as the JAC president was in talks with the authorities since morning, as per his demand on Monday.
Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif was negotiating with JAC President Sohail Baloch on behalf of the federal government. Sharif promised to accept some of the employees’ demands in connection with the privatisation of the airline.
According to airline sources, more than 50 PIA flights have departed from various Pakistani airports without any safety measures and clearance of the engineering department in the last two days.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA), taking action against the irregularities in the PIA flight operations, has asked the airline to ensure strict compliance of international safety procedures and regulations before allowing any aircraft to take flight.
In a statement the PCAA said, the Airworthiness Directorate’s primary role is to enhance and promote aviation safety through effective and up-to-date airworthiness regulations.
“People who have vested interests provide false statements regarding flight safety standards being compromised,” the statement said. “The CAA, on the contrary, ensures that the required standards are met and the aircraft is fully worthy of operation and the passenger safety is guaranteed,” it said. “No pilot puts his life at risk to fly an un-airworthy aircraft.”
PCAA remains committed to its mission of providing safe, secure and best-in-class aviation services to the passengers, the statement said.
Meanwhile, after eight days of stalled operations due to the ongoing protests by the airline employees, the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) restored its domestic flights on Tuesday.
The first domestic flight to take off was PK-308, which left Karachi for Islamabad, restoring the operations after days of strike by workers protesting against privatisation of the national flag carrier.
The Pakistan Air Lines Pilot Association (Palpa) did not endorse the stance taken by the PIA’s Joint Action Committee (JAC) and called for resuming the flight operations.
The strike was further weakened by the groups formed within the JAC, who disagreed with the approach held by the union leadership.
Earlier during the day, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ruled out the possibility of talks with protesting workers until they returned to work.
