Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has petitioned the Supreme Court for an early hearing regarding its request to hire more than 250 employees. A ban had been imposed by the apex court on March 31 on the recruitment of fresh personnel by Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Limited (PIACL).
To maintain its operations and competitiveness in the aviation sector, the national flag carrier is seeking the lifting of this restriction. According to the PIA, a number of key positions remain unfilled, but are crucial to the smooth functioning of the organization.
As a result of not being able to operate at full capacity, the airline warns that it will be unable to fulfill its operational requirements, and could be pushed into financial difficulties once again. PIA fears that it will suffer an irreversible loss if the hearing is not resolved soon.
The case was heard by a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court led by Justice Ijazul Ahsan, with Salman Akram Raja appearing on behalf of PTI. The airline has been prohibited from hiring manpower since 2018, resulting in an increase in the average age of its existing employees to 45.2. As a result of the shortage of operational crew and new employees with updated technological and corporate knowledge, as well as contemporary skill sets, the airline has been unable to modernize and advance its strategic commercial operations.
Turkish Airlines has recently entered into a code-sharing agreement with PIA, which is expected to generate a revenue of Rs 205 billion for the year 2023. Turkish Airlines’ new arrangement will assist in achieving this objective by increasing flight frequency.
