For nearly a year, engineers working at Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), represented by the Society of Aircraft Engineers of Pakistan (SAEP), have been raising their voices over what they describe as unfair treatment and safety concerns within the airline. Recently, however, the matter has escalated, turning into a protest, resulting in the delay of flights and leading to the suspension of a few SAEP officials.
On Monday night, the aircraft engineers refused to issue clearance certificates to aircraft, because of which hundreds of passengers were stranded at different airports due to long delays in the flights, especially those scheduled for Saudi Arabia.
Why are engineers protesting?
According to SAEP representatives, the protest was carried out over two primary issues: salary disparities as well as safety and the unavailability of spare parts.
SAEP members claim that while pilots receive salary hikes, engineers’ pay remains stagnant. Moreover, the engineers claim they are often told to reuse old aircraft parts instead of being provided with new ones, a practice they say could compromise passenger safety.
For the past two months, engineers have been fastening black ribbons around their arms to state a protest against low salaries. On November 3, PIA’s flight operations were disrupted across the country after the engineers’ group refused to issue clearances to aircraft, claiming that they could not compromise on travel safety.
Struggling national carrier
The PIA said in a statement that a “de-recognised entity, SAEP, in order to pressurise the management, tried to halt the operations during late hours of yesterday (Monday) night with their nefarious design to sabotage the privatisation process.“
The government is making efforts to sell the struggling national flag carrier, which has accumulated over $2.5 billion in losses in roughly a decade. In June, it received expressions of interest from five parties, including business groups and a military-owned firm.
Yesterday, SAEP President Abdullah Jadoon and Secretary General Awais Jadoon were dismissed from service, further worsening tensions.
SAEP says it plans to challenge the dismissals of employees in court.
Role of aircraft engineers
Aircraft engineers play a key role in flight operations: a plane cannot take off until they sign off on safety clearances. SAEP maintains that it prioritises passenger safety even as it faces what it calls a “frustrating” work environment created by the management.
Recently, an incident involving PIA flight PK859 highlighted SAEP’s concerns, where an aircraft on its way to Jeddah from Lahore had its windshield broken mid-air, forcing the pilot to reroute back to Lahore.
According to engineers, they had previously cautioned that the aircraft was unfit to fly, but PIA allegedly disregarded those concerns. The captain (pilot) of the flight said the aircraft could not fly any further.
