For the first time in over a decade, there looks to be some serious effort being made to actually pull PIA out of the hole it has dug for itself. Efforts are underway to improve the financial health of the corporation by reducing its deficit through various means. One such plan is offering the voluntary separation scheme (VSS) to the staff of the national flag carrier, as the report of PIA management filed before the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) informs.
The national airline is aiming to reduce the number of its employees to around 8,000 for its fleet. Thankfully, the present management of the organisation has come to realise the fact that downsizing is not only the first step in the entire process but also the most necessary one. However, the laying off of employees must be a smooth process. The separation package must be lucrative enough to lure the target number of the employees.
It is a sad sight to behold, having to watch that PIA has become a liability on the national exchequer and a source of constant embarrassment for the country. Unfortunately, mismanagement and corruption define the current iteration of PIA. Apart from reducing the staff ratio, other organisational issues also demand the attention of the management. The unqualified and ill-equipped personnel for technical and professional jobs, multiple layers of management and inadequate market strategies are also the reasons behind the poor performance of PIA.
The lack of competition for PIA is another factor that has made the corporation a failure. We see how PIA, in a liberalised market, abuses its dominant position and then tried to avoid accountability on the pretext of state policies. Undoubtedly, downsizing is the most challenging task to accomplish. But if the management succeeds in bringing down the employee numbers to half, then financial restructuring, recruiting dedicated professionals will become easy.