THIS refers to ‘Catnaps’ (Nov 6) by Capt Afaq Rizvi relating to an incident involving PIA Capt Amir Akhtar Hashmi who was caught napping in business class for over two hours on an eight-hour flight from Islamabad to London.

I read this news on May 8 in New York Post while on a trip to the United States. The newspaper had reported this incident quoting Dawn.

This incidence did not occur on a Toronto flight but on Islamabad to London sector on April 26 this year. According to New York Post, Capt Hashmi gets an amount equivalent to $1,500 per month in addition to his salary to train pilots.

He left a trainee pilot on controls which is criminal negligence and unbecoming of a professional airline pilot assigned as an instructor.

As for catnaps, this is an occupational hazard common among all who work in transportation industry such as railways, aviation, truckers, air traffic controllers and merchant navy. All of them are adequately compensated for performing their duties. Even reporters, desk editors and anchors working in electronic and print media perform long duties in odd hours at a stretch. Unlike others, however commercial airline pilots are provided rest areas, which are located away from passengers’ cabin for long flights in every aircraft with extra crew to replace them on controls.

Despite its losses, PIA continues to provide good hotels to crew to rest outstation. If this captain was not properly rested he should not have operated that flight. It is because of physical fitness and reflex action requirements that no airline in the world allows their pilots to be utilised beyond the national age of superannuation.

Gull Zaman Khan

Peshawar

Published in Dawn, November 22nd, 2017