KARACHI, Aug 10: Senior flight engineers of Pakistan International Airlines, accusing the flag carrier’s management of prematurely retiring them without a proper reason and inducting retired employees on contract in their place, have served legal notice on the airline for contempt of court, as well as serving a legal notice on the director-general of the Civil Aviation Authority warning him of the “grave violations” being committed by PIA.
However, PIA maintains that the services of the employees in question were no longer required, while the CAA has said hiring and firing of staff is the airline’s internal matter and has nothing to do with the regulatory body.
Malik Tariq Ali, president of the Flight Engineers National Association (Fena), told Dawn that on March 17, 2008, PIA assured redundancy of all flight engineers.
“The affected employees went to court and were issued letters by PIA saying that the sacked employees might be rehired on contract, as the numbers of 747s have decreased. The rules dictate what has to be done in such a situation. When Aijaz Haroon took over as managing director of PIA, he withdrew the illegal notification. On May 6, the employees returned to work. However, a junior flight engineer (FE), reportedly close to the MD, was trying to induct people from his batch. Now PIA is trying to prematurely retire the senior FEs,” Mr Ali said.
Pakistan International’s Boeing 747s were first inducted into the fleet in the mid seventies and require a three-man cockpit crew: a pilot, co-pilot and flight engineer. However, the airline has inducted the wide-body, twin-engine Boeing 777s – first flown in PIA livery in 2004 – as a replacement for its ageing jumbos on the airline’s long-haul routes. The treble sevens only require a two-man crew, eliminating the need of a flight engineer.
Mr Ali said the notification informing the senior flight engineers of their retirement was issued on July 30, 2008, effective July 31. The notice says employees aged 57 on July 31, 2008, will be retired. Those having seven to eight months before they turn 57 have been exempted. The age of superannuation in PIA is 60.
A copy of the legal notice served on the DG CAA by the attorney of seven affected Karachi-based flight engineers says: “After forcibly retiring senior flight engineers holding valid instructor ratings, PIA now intends to hire on contract retired flight engineers to serve as instructors. These retired flight engineers have not done any flight for a period ranging from over five months approximately or more …”
The Fena president told this reporter that as per the rules, employees can only be prematurely retired if they have negative reports written up against them or due to a lack of experience. He said none of the affected FEs had any adverse performance reports, while their flying hours ranged from over 5,000 to over 9,000.
A Fena press release issued on Aug 8 says that “In any case, even schemes like mandatory retirement excluded experienced technical cadre professionals like pilots, flight engineers and aircraft engineers, because experience in these fields is the biggest asset of an airline …”
Mr Ali said of the present batch of flight engineers, the highest number of flying hours accrued was 2,000.
“It is plain favouritism. That’s why people with three years remaining till superannuation have been sent home. I have not received PIA’s notice, nor will I accept it,” he added.
When contacted for PIA’s version, general manager public affairs Talat Wasim denied the aggrieved flight engineers’ claims and said that the airline no longer required their services.
“The people in question were retired as there was no requirement for them anymore. Everything is now on automation. They were given retirement with full benefits. The people rehired were done so in the capacity of consultants and advisers. They have professional and technical expertise,” she said.
When asked if the CAA had received a copy of the legal notice, the authority’s spokesman told Dawn that “They may have sent us a copy. However, it’s the PIA’s internal issue. If they have terminated the services of an employee, it has nothing to do with the CAA.”