KARACHI: Following the termination of 1937 employees including 837 fake degree holders and 1900 others through VSS in the past couple of years, the Pakistan International Airline (PIA) has started moving from insolvency to financial stability with the saving of Rs.8 billion per year.
The PIA, which was financially stable till late 80’s, has become a cash-strapped airline after massive political appointments in the past that not only restrained its growth but also affected its productivity and efficiency.
Since 2017, the incumbent management has taken several bold steps including reforms, ban of different workers’ unions, reopening of closed routes, etc., in order to regain its past glory. As a result, the PIA reforms in Human Resources have started paying off with positive results.
The national flag carrier has now successfully brought down the HR numbers to achieve savings of Rs. 8 billion per year and also reduced the employee to aircraft ratio to 260 from the level of 550 employees per aircraft in the year 2017.
A PIA spokesman said that the reduction in employees has brought PIA at par with international aviation industry standards; adding that with the induction of aircraft this year, the PIA fleet would further bring down the number to 220 employees per aircraft.
He said that the reduction in workforce was due to Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS), fake degree holders and employees terminated on disciplinary grounds and added that around 1900 employees opted for VSS and 837 employees were terminated on fake degrees while 1100 employees were terminated on disciplinary grounds.
Meanwhile, CEO PIA Air Marshal Arshad Malik said that with this reduction the airline will now save Rs.8 billion per year.
He said that the HR restructuring would continue without compromising productivity and service standards.
Furthermore, he said that the airline has planned to induct latest technology fuel efficient aircraft in its fleet in the coming years to increase the airline productivity and efficiency further.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.