Pak delays privatisation of flag carrier after protests

A spokesperson for PIA claimed that passengers apprehensive of flight delays were not purchasing tickets of the national flag carrier.

The Senator said essential services Act will be invoked if matters are not solved through dialogue.

The administrative affairs were disrupted due to the lockdown of offices and sit-in staged outside the head office.

Participants of the rally also demonstrated at the entrance gate of the airport as a result of which the route coming to airport was shut down. Long queues of vehicles could be seen whereas the passengers had to travel a distance of 1.5 kilometres by foot along with their children and heavy luggage to reach the airport.

He urged PIA employees to call-off their strike and solve issues on the negotiating table.

The announcement by the government came as protest by the employees entered the fourth day on Friday.

PML-N Senator Mushahidullah Khan on Friday said neither Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) was being privatised nor its employees being sacked or their facilities withdrawn, Dawn online reported.

He said government wants to improve working of the PIA and was not privatising it or sacking the employees.

During the meeting it was agreed that union leaders would be expected to support PIA’s management in reviving the national flag carrier.

The meeting asserted that there would be no tolerance for strikes which cause economic losses to the airline in addition to affecting passengers and bringing a bad name to the country.

Though, the government is giving the impression that with sale of limited share it was not going to privatise PIA.

The meeting observed that because of the strike the people were suffering and the organisation was also incurring losses of billions of rupees. “Employees of the airlines may immediately call off the strike”.