The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) has approved PIA’s Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS). The national carrier has been an ailing organisation for a long time now and has been asking for financial assistance in billions for its resuscitation. Having had failed to improve its financial health, the government has finally resorted to offering voluntary retirement to its employees.
At present, Pakistan has the second worst employee-to-aircraft ratio in the aviation industry. It has around 500 employees per aircraft. It should learn something from its neighbour, India. Air India has reduced its employee-to-aircraft ratio to 108 employees per plane. Another non-essential expense of PIA is the perks it gives to its employees. The practice of giving free tickets to employees and their families needs to be stopped in order to make the airline profitable. It is hoped that through the VSS, the relevant authorities will be able to revive PIA.
Iftikhar Mirza
Islamabad