LAHORE - The Lahore High Court Thursday ordered Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to implement 10 per cent female quota in recruitment of pilots with the national carrier .

Justice Farrukh Irfan Khan passed the order while hearing a petition moved by Komal Zafar, a lady who had moved the petition for recruitment of female pilots on 10 per cent quota.  PIA recruitment manager also appeared before the court along with the report that they had been working on implementation of 10 per cent quota with the national airline.

He said 800 female pilots had been performing their duties for flight operations for the last couple of years.  The officer said that becoming a pilot was a sensitive nature of job for which the merit could not be compromised. Candidates with disabilities could not be recruited as a pilot with the PIA, he said. The reply irked Justice Khan who remarked that half population of the country was consisting on females and whether they all should be considered handicapped.

“Women are flying warplanes after their recruitment with the air force,” the judge observed. The judge allowed the petition with directives to the PIA to implement 10 per cent female quota in recruitment of pilots.

On March 16, the same court had stayed till further orders recruitment process of pilots with the PIA and had sought replies from the respondents.

Komal Zafar, the woman applicant, had moved the petition and had made Ministry of Defence, PIA Chairman, Recruitment and Placement Section Organizational Development and Cabinet Secretariat Establishment Division.

The petitioner said that she applied for the posts of cadet pilots with the airline and qualified the test but she could not receive call letters while many others had received the same letters. She said there was a policy of 10 per cent quota for women in recruitment with the national carrier but that policy was not being implemented.

She said the women were ignored in recruitment.

She prayed the court to direct the respondents to implement 10 per cent quota across the board in federal government services and order them to recruit her as cadet pilot for being qualified candidate.