ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday summoned representatives of auditor companies of national flag carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).
A two-member bench of the apex court headed by Justice Ijazul Ahsen heard a plea of the PIA seeking permission to recruit some 250 employees, including pilots.
During the course of hearing, Salman Akram Raja, counsel for the PIA, submitted that in pursuance of court’s last order, they have submitted replies to the court queries regarding the business plan, revenue generation and routes of planes.
Justice Ijazul Ahsen inquired about the volume of planes as well as crew members of the national flag carrier. The additional attorney general told the court that at present there are some 31 planes with 341 crew members. The PIA finance head told the court that due to shortage of staff, they cannot operate flights on some routes. Justice Ahsen asked whether the PIA was earning profits and as to how much grants it takes from the government.
The PIA representative submitted that the organisation has deficit of approximately Rs383 billion, adding that during the last financial year, it faced deficit of Rs88 billion The additional AG told the court that the performance of the national flag carrier remained sound during the past nine months. Later, the court summoned audit companies on the next date of hearing and adjourned the matter until July 5.
Last year, during the course of hearing, the PIA counsel had sought permission for more recruitment, stating that the airlines wanted to purchase five more airplanes. He had submitted that the airline could not make further recruitments without the permission of the apex court, as the court had put an embargo on hiring in 2018. He had submitted that the apex court had allowed the recruitment for Hajj operations in 2019. However, Justice Mazahir Ali Akbar Naqvi had observed that the PIA routes to Europe, the US, and Canada had already been closed while people were least bothered to travel domestically on the national flag carrier. Justice Ahsen questioned as why the national flag carrier is recruiting 80 pilots despite only having 30 planes.
In response to the court’s query, the PIA chief financial officer had submitted that 34 out of 370 pilots at the airline had resigned. Furthermore, PIA earned Rs154 billion in the first 11 months of the year and had borne all operational expenses. He had submitted that the PIA has 20 aircraft, 10 of which are on the lease, and seven are currently involved in international operations.
Justice Ahsen had observed that the airline was barely covering its expenses and wondered how it would cover the costs of additional planes.