• Airline says it will take legal action against protesting employees, claims partial restoration of flights
• SAEP maintains it is not on strike, can’t issue clearance certificates at passengers’ expense

RAWALPINDI: The PIA on Wednesday managed to “partially restore its flight operations” amid a protest by aircraft engineers under the umbrella of the Society of Aircraft Engineers of Pakistan (SAEP).

The tiff between the PIA management and the SAEP has been going on for three days over the safety of aircraft, causing delays in the departure of domestic and international flights at multiple major airports. On Wednesday, the PIA cancelled six flights to adjust the schedule of already delayed flights.

On Monday night, the aircraft engineers refused to issue clearance certificates to aircraft, and hundreds of passengers were stranded at different airports due to long delays in the flights, especially those scheduled for Saudi Arabia.

The PIA claimed that the engineers were on “strike” while the SAEP said that they were on duty but not giving clearance certificates to aircraft without all the mandatory checks. Against this backdrop, the PIA management called the SAEP president and general secretary for an inquiry on Tuesday, but they didn’t even show up on Wednesday.

A PIA spokesman confirmed that the two office-bearers were summoned by the PIA management for the final hearing as an investigation against them had been underway. The PIA will initiate legal action against them in line with the law, he explained. He said that PIA flight operations had been partially restored through alternative means, hoping that the situation would become normal very soon.

SAEP Secretary General Awais Jadoon said that they are on duty and working, but could not compromise on safety and airworthiness. “We are being forced to issue clearance certificates (to release the planes), but we cannot put passengers’ lives at risk in such tense circumstances,” he explained.

He said that the engineers were not on strike, adding that they could not make compromises on the safety of travellers, as they were only issuing clearance certificates to aircraft completely fit for flying.

When asked about their meeting with the PIA management, he explained that they were not called by the management for negotiations or to address the issues raised by engineers, but they were called for a ‘personal inquiry’ initiated against them.

Published in Dawn, November 6th, 2025