Pakistan’s national airline moves to assuage concern over pilots’ licences

ISLAMABAD/KARACHI : Pakistan’s national airline has written to foreign missions and global regulatory and safety bodies, assuring them it has grounded all 141 pilots suspected of obtaining licences through unfair means, the carrier’s spokesman said on Saturday.

The move looks to assuage concerns after Pakistan’s Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said on Friday the government had asked various commercial airlines, flying clubs and charter companies to ground a total of 262 pilots until investigations into their qualifications were completed.

Pakistan Air Line Pilots Association on Saturday questioned the authenticity of the list and called on the judiciary to intervene and investigate the matter instead of the government to ensure transparency.