PIA administration to issue employees' identity cards from Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: The administration of the national flag-carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), has decided to issue employees’ identity cards from Islamabad, ARY News reported on Wednesday citing sources.

A new development came forth after the transfer of PIA’s Human Resource, Security and Finance departments to the federal capital as its employees’ ID card will not be prepared in Karachi headquarters anymore.

An email has been sent to the concerned departments by Deputy General Manager (DGM) Security, Nawaz Zar Khan Khattak, which stated that the identity cards of all PIA workers, family members and employees vetting cells will be prepared in Aviation Building of Islamabad International Airport with effect from July 15.

All respective department HR offices are informed to forward all cases of PIA employees and their family ID cards complete and duly signed to the undersigned office for further card printing.

The airlines’ HR offices have been directed to forward all requests to the Islamabad office for ID cards. Moreover, the employees were advised to initiate the renewal process of their ID cards at least 30 days prior to the expiry of existing ID cards.

According to the email, the cards can be collected from the respective station’s Security Manager/In-charges Offices upon returning of expired/defaced/damaged identity cards.

Earlier on June 25, the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) had elucidated that the relocation of its employees to Islamabad did not “by any way [means] transferring the airline’s head office”.

The arbitrary transfers of pilots, cabin crews, engineers and dozens of other staffs working at the PIA head office gave rise to rumours that the head office of the national flag carrier is being shifted from Karachi to Islamabad.

To which, the PIA management gave a clarification that the national carrier was not “transferring” its head office, but it intends to make the new Islamabad International Airport as the “airline’s hub”.

“The PIA is not shifting its head office but moving fast to implement and achieve economic viability as envisaged in the airline’s business plan,” said a PIA spokesman.