Staff wages are being delayed as financially troubled Pakistan International Airlines, the national carrier of Pakistan, struggles to survive amid mounting debts.
Local media is reporting that most staff had not been paid on time, forcing the airline to publicly confirm there had been delays in paying the October staff salaries because of financial constraints, but officials assured that most people had been paid by October 7th.
"It has been very distressing, if we had been told in advance our pay was going to be late, we could have made other arrangements and budgeted for it." Ashok, a PIA employee told us today.
The airline is said to be raking up losses in excess of PKR2 billion rupees, around $15 million every month following higher fuel prices, the weaker exchange rates of the rupee, which has drastically dropped in value in recent times. The carrier has also had to cope with increased competition, top-level management changes, corruption, excessive over staffing and maintenance issues - at least five aircraft are out of service at the moment. Another worrying sign came from the Pakistan Stock Exchange which put PIA on warning for not submitting its audit report and convening annual general meetings.
The future direction of the national carrier is uncertain, the government under the direction of new Prime Minister Mr Khan appointed an Air Vice Marshal from the Air Force, Arshad Malik, to the role of chairman to try and turn the company around. “The new chairman of the national carrier has been directed to “immediately fix the institution’s economic condition,” the information ministry said after the appointment had been made.
(Image PIA)
