Pakistan National Carrier Resumes Normal Flights After Strike

A five-member delegation of Pakistan International Airline’s (PIA) Joint Action Committee (JAC) is holding a meeting with Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif in Lahore today (Wednesday).

It is pertinent to mention that three protesting employees of the airline were killed and seven others injured when they clashed with paramilitary Rangers and Police near Jinnah International Airport in Karachi on February 2.

“Normal operations have been resumed”, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) spokesman Danyal Gilani said, adding that domestic and international flights would be running.

JAC chairman Sohail Baloch was quoted as saying by Dawn News:All airline workers to work with full dedication and pay no heed to anyone trying to disrupt flight operations. “A kind friend advised us to call of the strike”. Baloch said that Shahbaz has vowed to forward committee’s demands to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Baluch said the privatisation should be postponed for a year, and the airline should be put under the watch of Khawaja Saad Rafique, the railway minister who has helped revive the country’s railway system.

Addressing a press conference Baloch said, that JAC can not remain negligent to the safety of the planes adding that the government has also expressed its concerns regarding hardships being faced by passengers. He said the strike continued for 16 days during which two of their fellow employees embraced martyrdom.

According to a Joint Action Committee (JAC) spokesperson, the strike proceeded because the government had not accepted the body’s four-point agenda.

Daniyal Gillani confirmed the restoration of all PIA flights stating “The PIA’s entire flight schedule, including all worldwide flights, has been restored”.