The Joint Action Committee of Pakistan International Airlines Employees (JACPIAE) has agreed to operate 13 flights from New York to Pakistan by an aircraft without crew rest bunkers due to grounding of one of the Boeing 777.
A source in JACPIAE explained that a PIA Boeing 777 equipped with crew rest bunkers was being grounded for annual checks and maintenance which ha put PIA scheduling department in a fix because crew rest bunkers were not available in other aircrafts in operation. As per global practice, PIA has to operate long-range flights with provisions of crew bunkers.
PIA management, therefore, requested both the pilots and cabin crew associations to give waiver for these 13 flights due to severe shortage of aircrafts. Source said that pilots we ready to operate the flights without any compensation in order to reduce the burden on financially crippled PIA but have demanded at the same time that management should compensate cabin crew members who were already underpaid and overworked.
Due to its co-operative behaviour, the current management has been able to convince crew members to take this waiver whereas the previous management was not given the waiver when they tried to operate the same flight with this aircraft as they were doing it not because of lack of aircraft but only to showw their strength, source said He further said that the crew had demanded a separate secluded place where horizontal rest areas are provided.
Source quoted pilots saying that it would certainly be inappropriate and un-justified that there is no bunker in the aircraft of a long haul flight for crew members to rest in and they must be given their right of compensation allowance.
Pakistan Airline Pilots' Association (PALPA) spokesman when contacted for confirmation said that the association consultation with all the members of JACPIAE approved the waiver only on three conditions that there would be only 13 such flights and would be operated within a month, provision of rest areas would be secluded and horizontal type and the cabin crew, underpaid and overworked would be provided compensation allowance.
He termed it a goodwill gesture as the management had promised to provide relief on many of their justified demands and reciprocating this gesture, "we are ready to go an extra mile provided the flight safety is not jeopardised." It has been made clear to the management that this is a one time waiver and only within a month these 13 flights will be operated under this waiver.