ISLAMABAD/LAHORE - The Joint Action Committee of PIA Employees (JACPIAE) has demanded cancellation of what it calls a controversial agreement signed between the national flag carrier and the Turkish Airlines, and threatened to go ahead with its strike schedule if the demand was not met. On the other hand, PIA has issued show-cause notices to and suspended six pilots, including President PALPA Cap Sohail Baluch, General Secretary Cap TM Rabbani, Cap Waqas and Cap Tariq Chaudhry. All of them are member of JACPIAE. The pilots said that till the cancellation of agreement and removal of the MD PIA, they will continue their protest. PIA union leaders held a news conference Monday at the National Press Club in the federal capital and claimed they were not implementing any personal agenda, saying their agenda was to save the countrys national asset. Irrational and controversial policies of the PIA management are aimed at sinking the most-valuable asset of the country. We want the government press the PIA management dismiss the recently-signed agreement, Sohail Bloch, President of Pakistan Airline Pilots Association (PALPA), said. He claimed that the debt of PIA had more than doubled from Rs 41 billion to Rs 88 billion under the current management. Instead of improving the PIA, Managing Director (MD) Ijaz Haroon had sold profitable routes to the Turkish Airlines that may prove to be the last nail in the coffin of the national flag carrier, he added. The PIA employees claimed that the PIA MD attempted to force them to support the potentially damaging agreement that entails sharing of traffic and business on European and US routes with the Turkish Airlines. They said the agreement has strongly been condemned and rejected by the office-bearers of different PIA employees associations and unions, including PALPA, Peoples Unity (CBA), PIASSA, SAEP, ATAP, FENA, Air League, United & PIACE and JACPIAE. According to JACPIAE, the recent agreement between PIA and the Turkish Airlines that hands over PIAs profitable routes US, Europe and London to the Turkish Airlines is set to deprive the national airline of billions of rupees, therefore the government should take notice of it and cancel the deal immediately. Interestingly, the PIA MD is said to have presented a master business plan on November 27, 2010 for the expansion of PIA operations and its routes across the globe to fetch profits. However, he did an about-turn in less than a month. According to the controversial deal, PIAs operation to the main cities of the world, including New York, Chicago, Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt, Milan and Barcelona, would be transferred to the Turkish Airlines at Istanbul for onward carriage to their destinations. PIA employees told the media that they were shocked by the deal. Instead of going for expansion, PIA is reducing its operations and losing a big share in its profit, they said. The agreement could never contribute to the long-term goals of PIA, added the employees.