Pakistan International Airlines workers' unions went on strike yesterday while the pilots joined in the evening after three workers were shot dead during clashes between security forces and PIA staff at Karachi's international airport.
At least 12 others were injured in the clashes.
A PIA official said that all domestic and international flights were cancelled as pilots and airport staff were not available to handle the cargo and the passengers.
Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is trying to convince private airlines to operate additional flights to make up for the flights cancelled.
The government has already invoked the Essential Services Maintenance Act ((ESMA) for six months, banning all protests. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif yesterday threatened to sack the protesting workers, but it appears to have had no impact.
PIA Joint Action Committee (JAC) spokesman Nasrullah Khan said employees would continue to boycott work until government takes back the bill passed on January 21, converting the national flag carrier into a public limited company and accepts their four-point demand.
The government plans to split the PIA into two companies and sell the control of its core business to a global airline.
PIA has been running into losses for years and government says it was not possible to turn around it with the current system of management.
Last week, the government postponed its privatisation after token protests by PIA employees. It, however, said that it will go ahead with the privatisation plans of the PIA, which has total losses and debts of around 254 and 300 billion Pakistani Rupees (USD 2.8 billion).
Officials and analysts say the airlines has been bleeding losses and has accumulated debts. In the last six years around 5,700 employees were hired during the tenures of the Pakistan Peoples Party and PML-N of Prime Minister Sharif.