HANOI: The Vietnam’s aviation authority said on Monday it had grounded all Pakistani pilots working for local airlines, amid concern from global regulators that some pilots may have been using “dubious” licences.

Pakistan said last week it would ground 262 airline pilots whose credentials may have been falsified, after global airlines body IATA said that irregularities found in pilot licences at in Pakistan represent a “serious lapse” in safety controls.

“The head of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has ordered a suspension for all Pakistani pilots working for Vietnamese airlines,” the CAAV said in a statement on Monday.

The suspension will be in effect until further notice from CAAV, it said, adding that the authority was coordinating with Pakistani authorities to review the pilots’ profiles.

Judicial probe into ‘dubious’ licences sought; PIA cuts fare for domestic flights

Vietnam had licensed 27 Pakistani pilots, and 12 of them were still active, while the other 15 pilots’ contracts had expired or were inactive due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the CAAV.

Of the 12 active pilots, 11 were working for budget airline VietJet Aviation and one for Jetstar Pacific, a unit of the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines.

In a statement, VietJet said it had stopped assigning work to its Pakistani pilots as soon as news of the licence issue emerged and no pilots with Pakistan-issued licences were currently flying for the airline.

Vietnam Airlines and Bamboo Airways were not using any pilots from Pakistan, the CAAV said.

Vietnamese airlines currently have 1,260 pilots, with nearly half of them holding foreign citizenship, according to the CAAV.

Our Staff Reporter Mohammad Asghar adds from Rawalpindi: When Pakistan International Airlines spokesman Abdullah Hafeez asked about the Vietnam’s aviation authority’s move of grounding all Pakistani pilots working for local airlines, he said that the PIA had nothing to do with Pakistani pilots working for other airlines as they had joined them at their own.

Meanwhile, PIA and two other private airlines have grounded their 119 pilots suspected of obtaining ‘dubious’ licences of commercial pilots.

Of the 119 pilots, 107 were associated with PIA, ten others were serving with Serene Air and the remaining two were with other private airlines operating in Pakistan and abroad.

PIA spokesman said that the PIA had taken action against 107 pilots with dubious licences that have been grounded in line with the government’s directives.

He said earlier 105 pilots with suspected dubious licences were grounded, but two more were added on Monday. They are Captain Usman and Captain Baksh Bijrani, vice president of Palpa.

Also on Monday, PIA announced reduction of fare for domestic flights.

The PIA spokesman said that Rs12,000 had been fixed for one-way tickets inclusive of all taxes for different destinations including Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi and other cities.

He said the minimum one-way fare for domestic flight will be Rs12,000. The new fare would come into effect from Tuesday, the spokesman said, adding that the aim of reduction of fare was to facilitate passengers.

Judicial inquiry

The disclosure by federal minister for aviation about fake and dubious licences of pilots has sparked a new controversy with former chairman of the Senate Mian Raza Rabbani demanding a judicial inquiry into the working of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) which issues licences pilots.

Talking to reporters in Islamabad on Monday, Mr Rabbani said the credibility of the CAA and the PIA had taken a massive hit after the disclosure of the minister and IATA had expressed serious concerns over the issue.

Mr Rabbani said an impression was created by the government that the alleged fake and dubious licences were due to favouritism in the appointments of pilots.

He said in fact in and around 2012, the CAA required pilots to give seven to eight written papers. Until then, their flying hours had counted as being of greater value and requirement was essentially knowledge of English, matric certificate and flying hours. This new methodology was created by the CAA to line the pocket of its employees.

He said there should be a thorough inquiry of the working and functioning of the CAA.

He said it was strange that the PIA should ask for a list from the CAA of those pilots with fake or dubious licences.

He said the standing committees on aviation of both houses of the parliament should meet as a committee of the parliament and look into the matter. He said the panel should examine amongst other matters the mode and method of recruitment in the higher echelon of the management of the PIA.

Iftikhar A Khan in Islamabad also contributed to this story

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2020