KARACHI: Pakistan Airline Pilots Association (Palpa) has decided to move the court against the admin order. 15/2020 and 13/2020 issued by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).
This announcement was made public at the special general body meeting held the other day, which was attended by 91 members, including some retired pilots.
According to the short briefing issued to the members, the house unanimously approved a few resolutions due to “illegalities” and “violations” in the Admin Orders.
“The said admin orders are in violation of Section 2(6) as well as Provisions (iii) of the PIACL Act 2016 and in violation of the established salary structure and other service/working conditions of the pilots,” said Palpa spokesman.
He said that these admin orders were bound to create an “unsafe” working environment for all pilots of the airline while the same are also in “violation” of various ANOs as well as service rules and has illegally invoked Safety/FDMs for punitive purposes.
He said that the association was going to challenge the said admin orders in the court, adding that all the members of the association were fully cognizant of the ground realities and these issues would be resolved amicably.
Similarly, he said that Palpa has decided to stop cooperating with the management due to “unsafe” working conditions and the management’s “deliberate” compromise on flight safety (violations of PCAA Safety Regulations/ANOs, COVID-19 SOPs and ICAO Safety Rules).
Moreover, he said that pilots would strictly follow the safety regulations as envisaged under ANOs and ICAO while undertaking soft protest as the same was the constitutional right of each citizen of Pakistan under Articles 12, 17, 18 of the constitution.
Palpa spokesman said that due to present “unfriendly” working conditions and the “harassment culture” against the pilots, the association called upon its inactive members currently working as management/executive pilots to resign in protest.
In case such inactive members fail to comply with this general body resolution it would amount to ‘misconduct’ in terms of Rule 3.3.2.1 of Palpa Constitution, he said and added that such inactive members would be declared as ‘members not in good standing’ and considered to be willfully working against the interest of the association and its fellow pilots. In addition, all instructors and standard inspectors will voluntarily withdraw their supervisory assignments, if required by Palpa, he maintained.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020