Over 1,300 PIA employees agree to retire early

More than 1,300 employees of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) have submitted applications seeking early retirement under the voluntary separation scheme (VSS) – a plan the airline lately introduced to right-size its workforce and cut the cost.

According to a private television channel report, over 1,300 applications were received since the scheme was introduced. Tuesday (yesterday) was the last date for the submission of applications.

A mandatory retirement scheme will follow the VSS, under which employees with poor performance will be laid off, sources said.

They added that the management of the national flag carrier, taking a leaf from foreign airlines’ book, had devised a restructuring plan to turn it into a profit-making entity.

Besides laying off almost half its employees, the PIA plans to move its head offices, including the flight services division, commercial department and human resource divisions, to Islamabad by the end of January as part of the restructuring plan.