PIA Airlines umrah flights are being delayed regularly

Like last year, the Pakistan International Airlines’ (PIA) flights to Jeddah for umrah are being delayed regularly, causing hardships to passengers.There are five daily flights to Jeddah, which are being delayed for two to three hours on average, as the management has failed to properly utilise the resources in the absence of Managing Director, who himself is in Saudi Arabia for umrah.Aviation sources said the mess started following appointments of pilots on administrative positions.

Sources said that appointments of pilots in human resource, administration and safety departments were causing flight delays as these pilots were often on international flights to Europe or America or on vacation, leaving their administrative duty.According to details, flights PK7652 Jeddah-Karachi, PK760Jeddah-Lahore, PK732 Jeddah-Karachi, PK759 Lahore-Jeddah, PK742 Jeddah Islamabad, PK7412 Islamabad Jeddah, PK7422 Jeddah Lahore and PK7493 Karachi-Jeddah were delayed by three to four hours, while flights PK7653, PK7602, PK759, PK760 and PK7494 were delayed by two hours on average.Sources said that senior pilots were flying on other routes and following in their footsteps junior pilots had lost interest in umrah flights, which was causing problems for pilgrims.