Challenged PAA for retiree categories, allegedly concealing reports finding no evidence of “overpayments”
Pakistan International Airlines passenger plane. Photo file: Reuters
The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) operates under one roof but has separate rules for its thousands of retired employees. While thousands of retirees benefit from a full pension and other benefits, more than 2,500 employees are deprived of an annual increase in their pension.
According to documents and information obtained by Express News, AAP pensioners have been facing severe financial hardship and destitution for the past five years due to non-uniform implementation of pension increases.
The PAA management allegedly violated the regulations by creating four different categories for retirees:
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Category 1: Employees who retired on or before June 30, 2014 and who received all pension increases regularly until 2025, without any gap.
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Category 2: Approximately 2,280 employees who retired between July 1, 2014 and June 30, 2022. They do not benefit from a pension increase for the years 2021, 2022, 2024 and 2025.
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Category 3: 309 employees who retired between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023. They received increases for 2022 and 2023 but are deprived of increases for 2024 and 2025.
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Category 4: Employees who retired between July 1, 2023 and June 2025. They received the 2023 increase but did not receive the 2024 and 2025 increases.
The current leadership, which has been dealing with the pension issue for five years, is the same administration that previously declared the 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 pension increases as “overpayments.”
Today, the same administration, at its 18th Board Meeting, approved pension increases for 2011 and 2015. However, it now maintains that the increases granted for 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 constitute “overpayments” for Category 2 retirees.
The question remains: how can the earlier increases (2011 and 2015) be considered correct while the later increases (2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019) are declared surplus for category 2?
Haseeb-ur-Rehman, a retired senior AAP officer, filed a complaint with the Senate of Pakistan over the matter. The Senate conducted a thorough investigation, giving the Secretary of Aviation, the Director of Human Resources, the then Director General of Civil Aviation (CAA) and the Director of Finance an opportunity to appear before it.
However, none of them could prove that the pension increases in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 were “excessive”. This report was allegedly hidden from the PAA Board of Directors and the Senate.
Additionally, a three-member committee headed by the aviation secretary also conducted a thorough review but found no evidence of overpayment. This report was also allegedly hidden from the PAA board.
Under the rules that came into force in 2014, uniform principles apply to all retired employees and discrimination based on retirement date is not permitted. The current management’s claim that pension increases do not apply to those retiring on or after July 1, 2014 is legally baseless.
Retired PAA employees Haseeb-ur-Rehman and Afzal demanded that the probe reports be made public. They argue that these employees, who worked tirelessly – even during Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha – to ensure the growth of the institution and generate billions in profits, are being subjected to unfair treatment.
When contacted for comment, the PAA spokesperson said the authority has always granted pension increases in accordance with applicable federal government rules and its own service regulations.
Regarding the concerns raised by the retirees, the spokesperson added that a proposal has been prepared to resolve the issue and will be presented for consideration at the next board meeting, with the final decision subject to approval by the board.
