Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) places its highest consideration on the safety of its operations and under no circumstances will compromise the same, as it considered safety a top priority. Responding to a statement issued by Pakistan AirLine Pilot Association (PALPA), PIA further clarified that no professionally required facility or amenity has been withdrawn from the pilot community.
Agreeing to PALPA's contention that PIA pilots have put extra efforts during the Hajj operations, the flight duty timings and rest periods provided to the pilots are quite relaxed in comparison to the industry practices, it said. The flight duty timings and rest periods for all PIA Pilots have been duly approved by CAA Pakistan, which maintains a strict supervision on all flight safety issues, including flight crew duty time limitations.
Furthermore, safeguards in the form of firewalls have been built into the computerised roster system, which precludes the possibility of utilising a pilot beyond regulatory limits and also prevents the utilisation of a pilot having insufficient rest as required by law, PIA clarified.