National carrier: Fear no lay-off, government tells PIA employees

Special assistant to PM says focus will be on growth .

KARACHI:

The government on Monday allayed concerns of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) employees, saying there will not be any layoffs and, instead, efforts will be made to turn around the state-owned carrier.

In his first message to workers since taking up the charge last week, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Aviation Shujaat Azeem said consultations will be held with unions to address issues facing PIA.

His statement, issued by the PIA, did not carry any reference to the privatisation programme that includes a sell-off of the loss-making airline.



“We believe in consultation, not confrontation,” Azeem said, but warned that there will not be any tolerance for corruption. He also said that he would stop political interference in airline affairs.

Underling the government’s support for revival of the airline, he said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is very keen to see the turnaround at the earliest.

“There will be no lay-offs, rather growth and development will be the only strategy prevailing in the national flag carrier,” he said.

Retrenchment fear is based on hearsay and the fact is that government is aware of the economic issues being faced by the country and is not in its favour, Azeem said.

All out efforts are being made to make PIA a profitable entity by increasing revenue and cutting costs without compromising on service standards, the official said.

He appreciated efforts by the employees and said that the performance of the last month and the successful on-going Umrah season are very encouraging.

“The recently started phone, SMS and email service on PIA Boeing 777 aircraft is also a good initiative.”

He lent support to the management’s decision to induct 10 narrow body aircraft in its fleet. Profitable routes are being added to PIA’s network to shore up revenue, he said.

In a separate statement, the Pakistan Airline Pilots’ Association (Palpa) thanked the government for once again exempting flying allowance of pilots from tax liability.

The flying allowance, which makes up for most of the pilots’ income, will now be taxed at just 2.5%. In the last finance bill, the special exemption was withdrawn and allowances were brought under a higher applicable rate.

Palpa President Captain Sohail Baloch said pilots have for long maintained that flying allowances should be treated separately from other components of salary.

“Savings in fuel and operational costs through the dedication and hard work of pilots is of such a magnitude that they are practically paying back their salaries to the airline,” he said.

“Besides this, Palpa, on behalf of all pilots, has given PIA waivers on Flight Duty Time Limitations  on 40 flights per week by which the national airline saves at least Rs500 million per annum.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 28^th, 2014.

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