The stand-off between Pakistan International (PIA) and the Pakistan Airline Pilots Association (PALPA) continued for the fourth straight day on Sunday, with over 55 flights cancelled by the previous afternoon and the list expected to get longer.
Thousands of passengers who have paid good money and trusted the national carrier continue to hang in limbo, with several of them Hajj pilgrims who are waiting to return home. PIA on Saturday extended an official invitation to PALPA to sit down for negotiations.A delegation of PALPA has departed from Karachi for Islamabad today where it will meet the Prime Minister’s Adviser on Aviation Shujat Azeem for negotiations. The strike, however, will continue during this time with passengers continuing to suffer the consequences of cancelled flights. The clash started when the Civil Aviation Authority revoked the licences of two pilots for various violations of rules and regulations. This became the catalyst for a decision by pilots not to fly a number of selected routes for the airline over the past four days. This has also led to the cancellation of over 65 flights and affected over 5,000 passengers, who have been left stranded at different airports. The PIA administration has blamed pilots for refusing to comply with CAA-determined rules and regulations. However, Palpa officials claim that the revoked licences only became a simmering point that has allowed them to bring up a number of issues they had been raising with the PIA administration for some time now. Aviation officials have instructed the pilots to continue with work and conduct negotiations without preconditions. A disturbing corollary of the PIA slowdown has been the fact that private airlines have reportedly jacked up their fares exorbitantly knowing well that passengers have few other options. It is also true that many of the flights affected by the pilots’ go-slow programme were to smaller stations not served by private carriers.
Taking industrial action is the right of workers if all options fail. However, in critical sectors — such as aviation — care must be taken so that this option is exercised as a last resort, mainly because the cancelled and delayed flights hurt the common flyer the most. As it is, the flag carrier is not exactly delivering a stellar performance. Such disruptions in the normal operations hurt its reputation even more. The state must consider the just demands of the pilots’ union, while Palpa must also keep ground realities and the airline’s financial health in mind. PIA is suffering from numerous ills, yet the key to its revival lies in the basics: delivering on-time, affordable service with a focus on customer satisfaction. As for the private carriers that increased fares astronomically, the aviation regulator needs to look into the matter to ensure airlines do not fleece passengers in times of crises.
pk.shafaqna.com
