All pilots of Pak flag carrier want to quit: Top official

Islamabad: The Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has told Senate Panel that all the pilots of  Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) want to quit the national carrier due to an ‘extraordinary tax’ deduction.

Explaining the reason to the Senate Standing Committee on Aviation, CAA DG Khaqan Murtaza said that around 35% tax is deducted from the salaries of pilots. He further said that besides this tax has been imposed on the flying hours of the pilots.

A meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Aviation was held at the Parliament House under the chairmanship of Senator Hidayatullah, where he said that often you hear about flight cancellations because of the lack of pilots.

Senator Mohsin Aziz, a member of the panel, questioned whether PIA would ever be profitable in its lifetime. PIA CEO Air Vice Marshal Mohammad Amir Hayat replied that the national airline is making operational profit. Senator Aziz asked him to inform the panel about the overall profitability of the airline.

Later, the PIA CEO started discussing the issue of pilot licensing. He said that 141 pilots had questionable licenses out of which 69 have been cleared.