Kathmandu, February 1
Eight Nepal Airlines aircraft, including one used for international flights, have been grounded at TIA due to unavailability of pilots.
As the flag carrier’s planes sit idle in the hangar, the company is forced it to incur losses to the tune of Rs 10 million.
NAC officials say that the planes are grounded because they don’t have enough pilots to fly its aircraft as some of the pilots have resigned expressing dissatisfaction with the company’s promotion policy, while other disgruntled pilots are taking sick leaves more frequently than before.
However, NAC spokesperson Nawaraj Koirala refuses to admit that there is a problem with the pilots. He claims that most of the planes in the hanger have been grounded as they are undergoing maintenance. He says that one narrow body aircraft is in Singapore for c-check and will arrive in Kathmandu only on Thursday, while NAC’s only Boeing is grounded for maintenance.
Things aren’t looking good on the domestic front too. Of the six Chinese aircraft owned by NAC, only one is in operation.
According to Koirala, two of their pilots are currently on sick leave. He also says that NAC doesn’t have pilots who can fly wide-body or Chinese aircraft.
To resolve this problem, NAC is to soon hire 50 new pilots, officials say.
