Association says 1,500 Pakistani pilots jobless as airlines hire foreign crew

Aircraft Owners and Operators Association Pakistan has expressed concern over the alleged unemployment of more than 1,500 Pakistani pilots and the recruitment of more than 150 foreign pilots by local airlines. It has asked the government to review the rules on hiring foreign pilots.

The association's founder, Imran Aslam Khan, wrote a letter on 29 October to the defence secretary. The letter asks the Aviation Division to intervene urgently and take steps to give priority to employing and training Pakistani pilots in local airlines.

According to the letter, hiring foreign pilots reduces job opportunities for qualified Pakistani pilots and puts extra pressure on the country's foreign exchange reserves. It says foreign pilots working for local airlines are reportedly paid tax-free salaries of up to 15 thousand US dollars a month.

The association estimates that if more than 150 foreign pilots receive such pay, over 2.25 million US dollars a month may be sent abroad. It put this at about 62 crore 32 lakh 50 thousand rupees.

The letter names Airblue, Fly Jinnah and AirSial. It alleges they rely on foreign pilots instead of investing in training Pakistani pilots and obtaining type ratings for aircraft. It also claims that training Pakistani pilots and arranging type ratings costs less than the monthly salaries paid to foreign pilots.

The association also objects to an alleged change in how long foreign pilots may work in Pakistan. The letter says they were earlier allowed to work for six months, extendable by another six months, but the period was later raised to three years. The association says aviation industry stakeholders were not consulted before the change.

It fears airlines could use crew rotation arrangements to take advantage of this facility for a long time. It demands that the changes be reviewed and withdrawn, that monitoring be tightened to prevent misuse of crew rotation, and that local airlines be required to recruit and train qualified Pakistani pilots.

Imran Aslam Khan says that relying on foreign crew despite the presence of trained Pakistani pilots harms the development of the local aviation industry. Nawa-i-Waqt also reported that the association sent the letter to the defence secretary.