Government decides to lay off third of Pakistan International Airlines employees

People stand in queue as they wait their turn to buy flight tickets outside Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) office in Islamabad on July 1, 2020. (AFP/File)

• The national flag carrier has incurred billions of rupees of losses in the past several years
• No previous administration could downsize redundant employees due to political pressure and backlash from unions

ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to lay off more than 3,800 Pakistan International Airlines employees — constituting one-third of the workforce — to reduce the organization’s annual losses by Rs4.2 billion, reported a local newspaper on Tuesday.
According to The Express Tribune, these employees, who include both permanent and contractual staff members, will be removed from service through the Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) that is estimated to cost Rs12.87 billion.
According to an official handout circulated on Monday, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet approved the Aviation Division’s summary regarding cash support to implement the scheme.
The ECC meeting was chaired by the prime minister’s adviser on finance and revenue, Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, in which the scheme was approved “in principle.”
The official statement released after the ECC meeting did not mention how many employees would be laid off or how much the scheme was going to cost.
In recent years, the government has tried several measures to cut down PIA’s annual losses and approved bailout packages to keep it financially afloat.
PIA is a state-run entity that has incurred billions of rupees of losses for the last several years. Laying off extra employees was always on cards, though no previous administration could implement the plan due to political pressure and backlash from employee unions.