The Airline Pilots’ Guild of Sri Lanka issued a statement clarifying the accusations made on the delay of SriLankan Airlines flights in the recent past.
It said the failure of the Airline management to solve the serious issues that have arisen, had led to this situation.
Ports, Shipping and Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva recently accused SriLankan Airlines pilots of refusing to operate a flight after a first officer on duty had fallen ill.
Responding to these allegations, the Pilots Guild said the Airline requires at least 330 Pilots to function at full capacity for the designated flights.
“However, over 70 Pilots have resigned from the Airline in the last year (2022- 2023) with many more resignations pending due to the issues faced by the Pilots. The Pilots of the Airline have been left in the lurch as a result of a spate of decisions by the Management of the Airline compelling us to be overworked,” it said.
“The severity of the issue was witnessed in the recent incident where there were no Pilots on standby to be assigned to a flight which eventually departed more than 12 hours later than the scheduled time of departure.”
“SriLankan Airlines pays one of the lowest wages well below industry standards to Pilots. Prior to June 2023, the Pilots were paid their salaries at an arbitrary USD capped at a rate which was nearly 40% below the rate of the Central Bank.”
“The cadre of Pilots which should ideally be at 330 now only has approximately 250 as a result of the shortsighted, arbitrary and callous decisions of the Management.”
“The recent issues regarding flights stem from these actions and/or inactions of the Management itself which the Management have continuously refused to pay heed to. We have as a body at all times raised these concerns repeatedly including by way of litigation due to the attitude of the Management of the Airline.”
“We urge that these matters be brought to the notice and the attention of the general public and all stakeholders of the Airline in order to facilitate the issues raised being addressed and resolved,” it said.
