The business community of South Punjab has expressed its concerns over the ongoing rift between Pakistan Airline Pilot Association (Palpa) and PIA management regarding working agreement and flight safety issues which are causing inconvenience to passengers. President of Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mian Fareed Mughis A Sheikh said that business community in general and overseas Pakistanis in particular facing hardship in reaching their destination.
Exports of fresh fruits and vegetables also affected. It is the passengers who are bearing the brunt of this dispute, and on Tuesday, a liver transplant patient was stranded at Karachi airport after the pilot refused to fly at the last minute. He said that many workers who were serving in Gulf States are stranded at airport or forced to purchase costly tickets of other airlines to reach their destination.
He said working agreement containing the clauses of flight safety and aircraft security are mandatory for all airlines around the world and in each of them such rules and regulations are of the prime importance. No airline compromises on such fundamental rules. Flight safety and duty time limitation are part of the rules which safeguard the safety of the passengers and the aircraft. Passengers are given prime importance in every airline and their convenience is the priority of the pilots.