Islamabad, 6 July, 2023 (GNP): The Supreme Court authorized Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Wednesday to hire 205 skilled employees while postponing the enrollment of 45 others.
A bench of two SC judges comprising Justice Ayesha A Malik and Justice Ijazul Ahsan heard the case filed by PIA.
However, PIA asked for authorization for the appointment of 205 skillful employees including pilots, cabin crew, IT specialists, and finance and management officials.
A few years back on 31 March, 2018, the SC put a ban on new hiring in the airline.
In February this year, the PIA appealed to the highest court for the early hearing of its petition, asking for approval to recruit 250 employees.
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The government-backed airline in its new application stated that there were multiple prime positions currently being empty and needed to be fill-up immediately as it is necessary for PIA’s smooth operation.
The application further said, “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 report also highlighted that the PIA has not made a single hiring since 2018 as SC restricted it in that matter. Therefore, the airline was unable to appoint fresh blood, resulting in an increase in the average age of its existing employees to 45.2 years.
Moreover, the report added that the recruitment ban has created a deficiency of operational crew and new experienced employees having the advanced technological-cum-corporate expertise be in need to uplift the national flag carrier to an era of advancement and innovative strategic commercial operations.
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Furthermore, the report also stated that the national airline had recently signed a code-sharing agreement with Turkish Airlines. It also said that the regularity of flights would be a need of time for the smooth-running operation of PIA.
“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.
The Supreme Court removed its previous restrictions and permitted the PIA for fresh recruitment of pilots, cabin crew and IT specialists. The SC ordered the administration of the national carrier during the proceeding that process of induction should be clear and transparent.