volume 52-2020

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has unveiled its detailed restructuring plan under which the national flag carrier will complete the process of shifting its headquarters to Islamabad by June 2021 while reducing the number of its employees by almost half.

According to the plan, 7,500 of the 14,500 PIA employees will be laid off as per the voluntary separation scheme (VSS). Three thousand and five-hundred employees will be laid off under the VSS in the ongoing month. This will help the company save Rs10.5 billion annually.

The number of employees for each aircraft will be reduced from 500 to 250.Currently, the human resources cost the PIA Rs2.6 billion monthly and Rs24.8 billion annually.

The head offices of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), including the flight services division, commercial department and human resource divisions, will be shifted from Karachi to Islamabad by the end of January as part of the restructuring plan of the national flag carrier.

The airline’s other operations, including flights scheduling and medical division, corporate development department, works division and supply chain management will be shifted to the federal capital by the end of February, internal audit, corporate secretariat and finance departments by the end of March and engineering department by the end of June 2021.

The PIA management is also considering introducing “Sehat Card” for the employees by discontinuing the present model of medical facility which, it believes, is a huge financial burden on the airline.

The air tickets scheme (passage facility) is being rationalised to extend the same facility to all cadres of employees. The number of tickets authorised to the employees is being reduced as these contribute to indirect expenses in terms of fuel cost.

According to the restructuring plan, if the separation of the required number of 3,500 employees was not met through the VSS, then the MSS will be launched soon after the former. All departments/categories of PIA employees will be rationalised to achieve the required number of 3,500 employees.

According to plan, the excess employees will be mandatorily retired based on performance, discipline and value addition. The mandatorily retired employees will not be offered VSS financial packages as well as medical/passage facilities post retirement.

PIA Officers Association general secretary Safdar Anjum alleged that the airline management had leaked the restructuring plan with an intention to create panic and fear among the employees so that they avail the VSS. “Since the VSS scheme had been introduced, only 650 employees have applied so far,” he tweeted.

According to the plan, the dismissal of employees facing departmental inquiry for rule violations or poor performance will be completed in January 2021.

Under the VSS, employees will get hefty financial benefits. The employees facing forced retirements, however, will not be able to avail the VSS and will get a different package.

The non-core departments will be separated from the core departments by March 2021.

After forced retirements, the flight kitchen, technical ground services (TGS) and engineering base maintenance will operate under a mutual agreement signed with private companies.

The precision engineering department will be handed over to the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and its employees will no longer remain a part of the PIA.

The PIA’s courier service SpeedEx has already been closed and its 40,000 employees will be laid off.

As per the corporate restructuring plan, the commercial, human resource, legal and flight service departments will be shifted to Islamabad till January 2021.

The flight operation scheduling, medical, corporate development, works, and supply chain management will also be shifted by the end of February 2021 while the internal audit, corporate secretariat, and finance department will be shifted to Islamabad in March.

The engineering department will be completely shifted to Islamabad in June 2021 in the last phase.

According to the document, the mode of payment for OCS and TADA will also be changed under the cost-saving plan. The PIA employees will be linked to the government-issued health cards.

The employees will be able to get treatment at government hospitals as well as panel hospitals according to their salaries. The air tickets issued to the PIA employees will be reduced in number while their charges will also be adjusted as per the fuel prices.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) recently unveiled key design elements of the IATA Travel Pass. The pass is a mobile application that will help travellers to manage their travel easily and securely in line with any government requirements for COVID-19 testing or vaccine information. IATA emphasised that the critical design elements would put travellers in control of their personal information for top-level data security and data privacy.

The IATA Travel Pass stores encrypted data including verified test or vaccination results on the mobile device of the traveller. Global standards recognised by governments are also employed to ensure verified identity and test/vaccine information. A government-issued ePassport is used to verify the identity of the user. It also serves to create a digital representation of the user’s passport to allow the information to be sent electronically in a secured way that is linked to their verified identity.

Currently the main vaccination requirement for entry into some countries is for yellow fever. Under the International Health Regulations, this is managed by the “yellow card” or International Certificate of Vaccination and Prophylaxis. The World Health Organization (WHO) is developing digital standards that will make these vastly more secure and will dramatically reduce fraud. Upon being ready, the IATA Travel Pass will be able to accommodate such new global standards.

IATA is also partnering with selected and established laboratories to securely link their test results with the verified identity of the IATA Travel Pass holder. Nick Careen, IATA Senior Vice President, airport, passenger, cargo and security said in a statement that the IATA Travel Pass is being built to help people reconnect the world safely. He shared that IATA has brought advancements in global standards like e-ticketing and mobile boarding passes to consumers in all parts of the world and stated that the unique capability demonstrates that it can work with industry and governments to re-shape travel processes based on global standards.

Alexandre de Juniac, Chief Executive, IATA added that testing is the immediate solution to safely re-open borders and re-connect people and the same method is eventually likely to transition to vaccination requirements. He stated that in either case, a secure system to manage COVID-19 testing or vaccination information is critical and shared that the IATA Travel Pass is being built with data security, convenience and verification as top priorities as a solution that both travellers and governments can trust.

GENEVA: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that Kamil H. Al-Awadhi will be appointed IATA’s Regional Vice President for Africa and Middle East (AME), effective March 1, 2021.

 Al-Awadhi succeeds Muhammad Albakri who will become IATA’s Senior Vice-President for Customer, Financial, and Digital Services (CFDS), also effective March 1, 2021. As previously announced, Albakri will replace Aleks Popovich in the CFDS role upon his retirement.

 Most recently, Al-Awadhi was CEO of Kuwait Airways, a responsibility he held from November 2018 through August 2020. That capped a 31-year career at Kuwait Airways during which his positions included Deputy CEO and Chief Operating Officer. Al-Awadhi has also held several positions in the areas of safety, security, quality management and enterprise resource planning.

At IATA, Al-Awadhi will lead the Association’s activities across AME from its regional office in Amman, Jordan. He will report to the IATA Director General and CEO and join IATA’s Strategic Leadership Team.

 “Muhammad has reinforced IATA’s strong presence in the AME region. As he moves to take on the challenges of leading our CFDS activities, Muhammad will leave in place a strong team for the capable leadership of Kamil. Kamil is an industry veteran who brings a tremendous depth of airline expertise and regional experience. These will be critical in leading IATA’s activities in the AME region at this very challenging time. As a former CEO, he knows what member airlines expect of IATA. And, I have no doubt that Kamil has the skills and determination to exceed those expectations as we aim to reconnect the world amid the coronavirus pandemic,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

 “I look forward to getting started at IATA. Like all regions, AME will need a strong air transport industry to kick-start the economic recovery from COVID-19. The priority to revive aviation is clear and IATA is at the center of this effort. There is no time to waste. We must help governments to re-open borders without quarantine and we need to ensure that the industry is ready to safely scale-up operations and implement the global standards that will keep passenger and crew safe during the pandemic and beyond,” said Al-Awadhi.

DUBAI: Emirates has received the APEX 2021 Five Star Global Official Airline RatingTM, based on feedback from passengers that was independently collected by APEX via its partnership with TripIt, and validated and certified by an external auditor to ensure that all ratings were made by genuine travellers who had flown on the airline they were reviewing.

Adel Al Redha, Emirates’ Chief Operating Officer said: “We are delighted to receive this recognition from our customers. It reflects all of our efforts to provide our customers with a safe and enjoyable flight experience.

He added: “In the past months, Emirates has constantly reviewed and proactively adapted our products and services to comply with regulatory protocols, and we’ve also kept our eye on innovation. In line with our strategy and our leaders’ vision, Emirates continues to invest in enhancing our customer proposition and product. In recent months, we’ve brought to market several innovative services to offer our customers even more confidence, comfort and convenience, and seamless travel. These were not simply a response to the pandemic, but also part of our DNA and long-term strategy to earn our customers’ trust and loyalty, and maintain our lead in the industry.

“With independently verified passengers serving as the final judges, Emirates continues to set the highest echelon bar of airline experience by winning the APEX Official Airline Ratings™ Global Five Star rating every single year without fail,” APEX CEO Dr. Joe Leader stated. “Emirates’ ability to continue to advance the gold standard of customer care, even against the headwinds of a pandemic, demonstrates the airline’s non-stop focus upon positive guest engagement. I have experienced Emirates’ economy, business, and first-class products with heartfelt admiration for every service class backed seamlessly by the Emirates ice in-flight engagement system.”

Emirates continues to lead the industry in restoring travel confidence. It was the world’s first airline to offer free COVID-19 medical cover for all customers and this was later extended to a full multi-risk insurance cover; and it has modified its services onboard and on the ground to introduce enhanced bio-safety protocols while continuing to offer its signature experiences like the Emirates lounge and onboard Shower Spa.

Emirates also recently launched its fully-integrated biometrics facilities at Dubai airport, and self-service check-in and bag drop facilities that further reduces contact and eases the customer journey on the ground.

The APEX Official Airline Ratings™ were created based on neutral, third-party passenger feedback and insights gathered through APEX’s partnership with TripIt® from Concur®, the world’s highest-rated travel-organizing app. Using a five-star scale, nearly one million flights were rated by passengers across more than 600 airlines from around the world. The APEX Official Airline Ratings™ were independently certified by a professional external auditing company.

RAWALPINDI: AirSial, a private airline which has recently launched its operation, has announced that it will provide free travel to a passenger accompanying the coffin of a loved one.

A press release issued by the airline said that AirSial chairman Fazal Jilani and the board of directors had decided to provide free of charge mobility of bodies, along with one family member, on all its routes.

Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurated AirSial on Dec 9. It is the country’s third private airline and it is being operated by Sialkot’s business community.

The airline will commence its flight operation on Dec 25 and the flight schedule has already been announced.

The newly inaugurated private airline will operate on Karachi, Islamabad, Peshawar, Sialkot and Lahore routes.

Mr. Pervez George told Holiday weekly that AirSial  will be the first Pakistani airline to provide a free ticket to a member of the family accompanying a dead body.

Mr Jilani stated that AirSial will be the first Pakistani private airline facilitating the public through this service as this airline is ‘for the people and by the people of Pakistan’.

He added that Sialkot’s business community is making efforts to serve the public in every aspect of life.

KARACHI: Visiting the highest global peaks in Gilgit-Baltistan has now become easy, as Pakistan International Airlines has introduced special fares to facilitate travellers visiting Skardu and Gilgit.

Sharing the details, the national flag carrier announced that it would now be charging a minimum one-way fare of Rs6,915 from passengers travelling from Islamabad to Skardu and Gilgit areas of the federally-administered region.

“Time to admire the highest peaks in the world in Gilgit!!” the PIA said in a message.

Earlier, PIA CEO Air Marshal Arshad Malik, while speaking to the marketing team and airline officials at a review meeting, directed the provision of best services to the passengers travelling on domestic as well as international flights.

He also instructed the employees to work with new zeal, strength and enthusiasm for the betterment of the airline with the start of the new year.

The special fare has been announced keeping in view the weather conditions and to ensure convenient, accessible and affordable air travel facility, specially to the people of northern areas.

It is pertinent to mention that the announcement came after Gilgit Baltistan Governor Jalal Hussain Maqpoon on December 10 wrote a letter to the PIA CEO to lower fares of the airline’s flights in order to promote tourism in the region.