Biman’s pilots protest over pay cuts, flight schedule at risk

Dhaka: Pilots of Biman Bangladesh Airlines have announced not to work beyond the terms of their contracts with the national carrier following a protest of pay cuts that has thrown flight schedules into disarray.

Bangladesh Airlines Pilots' Association (BAPA) President Mahbubur Rahman on October 25 said that the management had assured of resolving the issue of pay cuts a couple of months ago.

“The pay cuts are still in effect, which has made the pilots frustrated. They cannot be stopped if they do not want to operate flights outside the agreement between Biman and BAPA,” he added.

Pilots had launched a similar protest earlier as well, as a result of which Biman incurred a loss of at least BDT 10 crore in just a week. Later on July 14, BAPA decided to suspend the demonstration in a meeting.

On October 25, Biman’s 6:30 pm Doha flight was delayed by three hours due to the strike, while the 7:30 pm Dubai flight was held up for 45 minutes.

Biman’s schedule will face further disruptions if the pilots continue the ongoing strike and refuse to operate any more flight.