ISLAMABAD, Nov 2: An unannounced strike by ground engineers of PIA grounded the entire fleet of the national carrier on Friday. A record 92 domestic and international flights were cancelled, leaving thousands of passengers stranded at airports across the country.Chaotic scenes were witnessed at airports with passengers protesting the cancellation of flights and scuffling with staff of the airline.

The stoppage followed protests by engineers for improved working conditions and better pay structures. They had been on a go-slow move since Monday, but decided to go on medical leave en masse after talks between the leadership of the Society of Aircraft Engineers Pakistan (SAEP) and the airline management broke down on Thursday.

The suspension of flights started at 7 am and by 11 pm 74 domestic and 18 international flights had been cancelled across the country.

The engineers’ demands include restoration of parity in salaries with those of pilots (100:55); revival of privileges like flight allowance, rest allowance and overtime; and abolition of the bell curve method for evaluation.

Although there had been some progress in negotiations, the airline, which has suffered Rs35.5 billion losses since last year, had rejected the demands for pay raise, citing ‘financial crunch’.

“Both sides are running on parallel tracks,” a source privy to the negotiations said.

PIA Chairman Zaffar Khan said: “We are concerned and want an amicable end to the unfortunate situation through dialogue. We hope better sense would prevail, but we can’t accept all demands as our financial situation is known to everyone.”

President of the SAEP Shaukat Jamshed said: “All of our 818 engineers have gone on sick leave and we will not work over the weekend as well.”

He regretted the inconvenience caused to passengers and expressed the willingness to continue negotiations for acceptance of demands. But, he said, his colleagues were mentally upset and could not be forced to go to work – something that could ‘jeopardise the safety of passengers’.

Pilots’ Association’s President Captain Khalid Hamza urged both sides to urgently settle their differences and end the inconvenience being caused to the passengers.

“Better sense should have prevailed and the loss incurred because of just one day’s strike was much higher than the financial impact of the benefits being sought by the engineers,” he said.

Passengers were at a loss to understand the situation as there was little information on when services would return to normal, or what to do in case the crisis continued. Flight information boards displayed ‘uncertain’ in front of PIA flights.

Mr Kamran, a passenger with a confirmed seat for Manchester, said with a tired grin: “I have heard a lot about strikes but this is perhaps the worst because I have no other options to exercise.

“Both sides should realise the consequences of their actions,” Ms Shahida, an agitated mother holding an infant, said.

Some passengers at Islamabad airport turned violent and damaged the announcement box.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) tried to ease the hardship of the passengers by adjusting domestic passengers on private carriers. It allowed Air Blue to fly six additional flights between Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.