PIA seeks SC’s nod to fill 250 posts

Airline says it will not be able to meet its operational requirements without the induction of new employees

ISLAMABAD:

The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has approached the Supreme Court for the early hearing of its plea, seeking permission to induct over 250 employees.

The top court had on March 31 imposed a ban on fresh recruitment in Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Limited (PIACL).

The national flag carrier has sought lifting of the restriction so that it may resume recruitment of which PIAC has an urgent and pressing need in order to maintain its operations and remain competitive in the aviation sector.

PIA in its fresh application stated that there were a number of key positions currently lying vacant which are required to be filled in order to ensure the smooth operations of the organisation.

"Without the induction of the said new employees the airline will not be able to meet its operational requirements and could once again run into financial difficulties as a result of not being able to operate at full capacity.”

The application said that if the application was not fixed for early hearing, the PIA would suffer an irreparable loss.

A three-judge bench of the SC led by Justice Ijazul Ahsan heard the matter.

Lawyer Salman Akram Raja appeared on behalf of PTI.

Earlier, the report had revealed that as the SC restricted the national carrier from recruiting any manpower since 2018, the airline was unable to induct fresh blood, resulting in an increase in the average age of its existing employees to 45.2 years.

"This has created [a] deficiency of operational crew and new employees having the latest technological-cum-corporate knowledge with contemporary skillset required to uplift the national flag carrier to an era of advancement and innovative strategic commercial operations,” the report stated.

It is also mentioned that the PIA had recently made an arrangement of code-sharing with the Turkish Airlines.

The report added that an increase in the frequency of flights would be a key requirement for running operations smoothly.

“As an outcome of the code-share arrangement with [the] Turkish Airlines, the PIA is projecting an annual revenue of Rs205 billion for the year 2023,” it added.