The Aircraft Owners and Operators Association (AOOA) Pakistan has urged the federal Aviation Division to reverse what it calls a tilt toward foreign pilots on domestic airlines, arguing the practice hurts the economy, the local aviation sector and job prospects for certified Pakistani crews.
In a letter to the secretary of the Aviation Division in the Ministry of Defence, AOOA founder Imran Aslam Khan said carriers were increasingly choosing foreign flight crews over qualified Pakistani pilots. That preference, he wrote from Rawalpindi, was feeding unemployment among local aviation professionals and sending hard currency abroad.
Pay, jobs and the forex bill
Mr Khan said airlines were offering foreign pilots tax-free monthly pay of up to $15,000—enough, in his view, to employ several local aviators for far less. He stressed that roughly 1,500 Pakistani pilots are without work while local carriers have taken on more than 150 foreign pilots.
Those foreign hires, he said, are draining over $2.25 million—about Rs623.25 million—every month in foreign exchange. He also argued that training a Pakistani pilot costs less than one month’s salary for a foreign crew member, yet airlines remain reluctant to invest in national talent.
How the rules changed
Previously, Mr Khan said, regulations allowed foreign flight crews only on wet-leased aircraft—planes leased with crews—for a maximum of six months, with one further six-month extension. That limit, he argued, had helped protect local talent.
A recent amendment, introduced without consulting key domestic industry stakeholders, extended the permissible period for foreign pilots to three years, he said. Airlines could also rotate foreign crews through that window, he warned, making their presence effectively open-ended and shrinking openings for Pakistani pilots.
What AOOA wants recognised
Mr Khan framed the dispute as a national economic interest as well as a labour one, saying hundreds of qualified Pakistani pilots see their futures narrowed while scarce dollars leave the country. The association’s letter puts the scale of foreign hiring, the salary figures and the rule change before the Aviation Division; no formal government reply is included in the available accounts.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Pakistani airlines zyada foreign pilots rakh rahi hain, AOOA ka kehna hai. Taqreeban 1,500 local pilots be-rozgar hain, jab ke 150 se zyada foreign pilots kaam kar rahe hain. Inhen mahana $15,000 tak milta hai, jis se har mahine $2.25 million bahar jaate hain. Purani qawaid chhe mahine tak thi; ab teen saal tak ijazat hai, is liye local pilots ke liye mauqe kam ho sakte hain.
