Biman Bangladesh pilots have announced not to work beyond the terms of their contracts with the national flag carrier in protest of pay cuts, throwing flight schedules into disarray.
Bangladesh Airlines Pilots' Association (BAPA) President Mahbubur Rahman on Monday 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 Tk10 crore in just a week. Later on July 14, BAPA decided to suspend the demonstration in a meeting.
On Monday, Biman’s 6:30pm Doha flight was delayed by three hours due to the strike, while the 7:30pm Dubai flight was held up for 45 minutes.
Biman’s schedule will face further disruptions if the pilots refuse to operate any more flights.
Biman Deputy General Manager (public relations) Tahera Khandaker acknowledged that two flights had to be rescheduled, but she did not comment on the issue of pay cuts.