Pakistan PIA crisis: Engineers’ strike stalls flights after refusal to issue safety clearances

The strike has led to the cancellation of at least eight international flights and numerous domestic flights.

An unannounced strike by aircraft engineers since Monday night has severely disrupted flights of national carrier Pakistan International Airlines.

The strike has led to the cancellation of at least eight international flights and numerous domestic flights of the national airlines (Image: PIA)

The strike has led to the cancellation of at least eight international flights and numerous domestic flights of the national airlines which has now sought help from other carriers to provide aircraft engineers to resume operations.

Hundreds of passengers were left stranded at the airports in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi since Monday night after engineers refused to issue safety clearances for scheduled flights.

Strong action against engineers

Hafeez Khan, an official of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), said they and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) would be taking strong disciplinary action against the involved engineers for causing flight disruptions and losses to the airlines.

A spokesperson for the Society of Airline Engineers Association said the strike would continue until PIA and CAA improved their behaviour toward aircraft engineers.

The PIA spokesperson said there was no legal status of the association of the engineers and they had also not given any notice for the strike.

“All their actions are illegal,” he said and added it is a pressure tactic against the privatisation of the national airlines. “They have violated the essential services act as well,” he said.