PIA pilots to get 25% less pay

The Pakistan International Airlines – the national flag carrier – has decided to cut salaries and allowance of its pilots, in an apparent move to recover from the financial losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Earlier this month, PIA CEO Arshad Malik had told the federal cabinet that the national flag carrier had suffered a loss of Rs31.9 billion in the current year because of the Covid-19 pandemic that has severely disrupted the global economic market.

“The PIA will cut its pilots' salaries by 25% and the captains will be paid for 50 hours of guaranty allowance instead of 75 hours,” reads an official notification available with Express News.

It further reads that sick leave for more than five consecutive days would not be accepted, moreover, the administration would also not accept the application for being absent for over seven consecutive days under the annual leaves plan.

The PIA officials in September informed a parliamentary panel that the national flag carrier’s total strength was around 14,500 (including outsourced staff) while it currently has a fleet of 29 aircraft, which cost Rs2.06 billion per month. They had shared details about the national flag carrier’s Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) and its projected financial implications.

When compared with other airlines, the officials had said the PIA has a ratio of 500 employees per aircraft, while Qatar had 133, Emirates 231, Turkish 94, and Etihad

211. Qatar Airways is operating with 240 aircraft and a total staff of 32,000 employees, Emirates operates 269 airplanes with 62,356 employees, Turkish Airlines has 329 aircraft and a workforce of 31,000 people. Etihad Airways has 102 airplanes.

“Pilots on the four below mentioned reasons will also be not able to receive 50 hours of guaranty allowance and other benefits; being absent and not present without due permission, those pilots who had excused for performing daily chores, pilots suspended as a result of management inquiry, and those pilots who had been suspended due to any negligence,” the notification reads.

Furthermore, those pilots have also been added to such a category who had not completed their flying hours for more than three months without giving any reason.

The PIA management had been trying to prepare attractive packages for those employees aspiring to benefit from the VSS.