The airline staffers said they are enjoying free tickets only against perishable seats of the planes and they also pay due taxes to the Pakistan International Airline (PIA). They said they were already facing problems regarding pay raise, promotions and other such issues.
A PIA staffer said the Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has decided to take back privileges from public-sector employees, claiming that the decision was taken during a special cabinet meeting in Islamabad on June 20. The privileges include free electricity, free air tickets, rebates in gas bills and free telephone facility. Delays in holding meeting of PIA Board of Directors (BoD) to review increase in salary package has already sent a wave of anxiety among PIA employees that could lead to another crisis in the national flag carrier in the form of strikes.
They said that the employee ranks were anxiously waiting for the BoD meeting as the most likely agenda would be a review of the salaries and increase in the salaries was expected. The meeting, however, has been postponed thrice which has seeded doubts in employees who believe that management was buying time and could give peanuts in raise at the end of the day.
