KARACHI: The cash-strapped Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is planning to carry out unprecedented downsizing to steer the national airliner out of financial crisis.

According to sources, the PIA management is mulling to sack around 11,000 employees out of its total strength of 18,000 staffers.

The management believes that PIA requires around 6,000 to 7,000 employees to meet its needs, while around 11,000 workers were redundant and liability on the organisation, sources informed.

Some 400 employees possessing fake degrees will also be given the heave-ho, it is learnt.

Read: PIA protests – How it all started?

Chairman PIA Azam Sehgal is also formulating a policy in this regard.

He told that the airliner was continuously going through financial crisis hence a policy needs to be devised to avert the longstanding issue.

In February this year, PIA workers resorted to violent protests when the management announces its plan to privatize the national airline. At least two PIA staffers were also killed in the protest.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had also enacted legislation that effectively restricted the airline’s employees from striking for six months.

Those convicted of infringements face prison terms of up to a year, and an unspecified fine.

Sharif vowed not to back down from the reform plan.

“Action will be taken against those who have gone on strike,” he had said. “I believe that any concession on this will be a disservice to Pakistan.”