PIA flight operations across country wind down as employees killed in Karachi clash

[teggy]

Re: PIA flight operations across country wind down as employees killed in Karachi cla

@Sachaydino

Good to hear that. Looks like government has taken back the privatization of air line.

PIA employees end strike, resume flight operations nationwide - Pakistan - DAWN.COM

KARACHI: The Joint action Committee (JAC) of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) employees announced to end its strike against the proposed privatisation of the national flag carrier and asked employees to resume flight operations across the country with immediate effect.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday evening, JAC chairman Sohail Baloch announced the decision to end the eight-day long strike and requested “all airline workers to work with full dedication and pay no heed to anyone trying to disrupt flight operations”.

“A kind friend advised us to call off the strike,” Baloch said.

The assurance given to us by the government to resolve issues is enough to make us call off the strike, he added.

The JAC chairman said he will meet Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif in Lahore on Tuesday (today).

“We hope that the meeting with Punjab chief minister will be satisfactory and beneficial both for the government and the employees of PIA,” said Baloch.

When asked if the JAC had retracted from its demands, Baloch said he will “apprise media about the developments after meeting with the Punjab chief minister”.

If the PIA workers cooperate with each other, there is no reason they cannot revive the airline within a year, said Baloch.

“We can revive this airline, we just need some support and guidance,” he claimed.

Meanwhile, the PIA spokesperson also issued a statement and apologised for the inconvenience caused to passengers during the last eight days. He asked the passengers to come to airports as per their flight reservations.

Partial resumption
PIA flight operations had partially resumed on Monday and the head offices in Karachi and Islamabad were reopened. Numerous flights flew to their destinations and also arrived from different national and international locations.

However, PIA employees voiced concerns that proper safety protocol had not been followed for these flights.

PIA engineers warned the management against operating flights without ensuring aircraft maintenance protocols as it may cause serious safety hazards.

Resumption is indeed good. This sort of arm twisting and blackmailing shouldn’t repeat at the expense of Airline’s remaining reputation and stranded passengers who still choose to support the national carrier over competition. A lot of the people that travel PIA from overseas may be on a tight schedule, and cannot afford to have the airline shut down because employee union decided the best way to protest is to hurt the source of revenue.

It’s my personal view, and belief (I may be wrong) that PIA is loaded with more employees than the airline can support and maintain profitable operation. The workforce will need to be reduced unfortunately. It doesn’t matter how you slice it, whether govt. subsidy or monetary injection to keep the airline afloat, as long as the core of the issue is not addressed, the symptoms will keep resurfacing in one form or another.

The political meddling and using the public institutions need to be saved from becoming the default choice of political hires.