LAHORE - Pakistan Air Lines Pilots Association (PALPA) has strongly condemned the notion given in a report published in a section of local press which has portrayed the pilots of British Airways as patriots simply because they accepted a pay cut in hard times without analysing the entire agreement under which in lieu of pay cut they would be entitled to own company shares. A spokesman for the association alleged that elements in the PIA management are continuously trying to sabotage the sincere efforts of PALPA which is negotiating on working agreement with the management to improve the flying safety standards for passenger and aircraft safety. A part of media maligned the PIA pilots for putting up demands for salary increase before their management at a time when the airline is in trouble, while Pakistan Airlines Pilots Association regrets that the facts are being distorted in this regard, notwithstanding, the ongoing tubal flying tussle between the PIA management and PALPA is not specifically for pay raise but is centred on the passenger safety and adherence to the global safety standards, he added. He said that first of all we must not compare PIA, which is being run on the whims of few individuals, with BA that is being operated transparently and professionally, and the woes of PIA are due to incompetence, non-transparent procedures both in operations and procurement. Secondly the PIA pilots accepted a cut of 40 percent in their salaries in 2001, as compared to 2.61 percent cut in BA pilots which our media is terming as patriotic gesture while no one called our pilots patriots, in order to provide a chance to the administration to put its house in order and streamline the operations of the national carrier. The pilots again in 2006 agreed to have their salaries adjusted and restructured which in terms of taxes helped them and the management as well, this could not be called salary increase, he informed. As far as the BA pilots are concerned each of them will take a wage cut of 2.61 per cent on their basic pay in October this year, in addition they will take a 20 per cent cut in flying time allowances. This will generate 16 million of annual savings, he added. He mentioned that the productivity part of this package includes an increase in annual duty hours, the delivery of shorter turnaround times on short haul flights and reductions to the crew arrangements on certain long haul routes, which will generate 10 million of annual savings. British Airways Pilots will benefit from a groundbreaking long term incentive scheme, as in June 2011 they will be eligible to receive BA shares worth 13 million if certain company targets are achieved, moreover, the pilots will individually have to hold these for three years, to June 2014, when they will be free to sell them or hold them and if conditions improve sufficiently the value of the shares could increase in that three year period, he said. 'This is a unique agreement, said BALPA General Secretary Jim McAuslan, 'We have always said that as a union we would share the pain if our members shared in the gain. The PALPA spokesman asked if PIA could come up with such packages.