KARACHI, Aug 29: A civil suit filed by certain flight engineers of Pakistan International Airlines against what they have termed the flag carrier’s policy of forced retirement has been dismissed as not maintainable by a senior civil judge, Dawn has learnt.

However, sources told this reporter that an appeal has been admitted in the court of sessions judge Abdul Rasool Memon while notices have been served to the PIA. The hearing is scheduled for Aug 30.

Plaintiffs Mohammad Tasneem Choudery and others had filed Civil Suit no 172/2008 against PIA and others in the court of the first senior civil judge Malir praying that “the proposed policy of forced retirement” be declared illegal and “to declare that PIAC, by resorting (to) forced, arbitrary, illegal retirement of senior-most flight engineers with maximum experience on B747 is jeopardizing flight safety of (the) travelling public,” among other things.

The background of this litigation is that on March 17, 2008, PIA had declared all flight engineers redundant as Boeing 747s, which were once the mainstay of the national airline’s long-haul fleet, are being replaced with B777s. Whereas the 747s require a three-man crew – a pilot, co-pilot and flight engineer – 777s have a two-man cockpit, eliminating the need of a flight engineer.

The airline plans to phase out the 747s, popularly known as jumbos, in the next three to four years and hence, the requirement for flight engineers has been reduced.

However, when Aijaz Haroon took over as managing director of the airline, he withdrew the redundancy notification and the affected flight engineers returned to work on May 6 of this year.

Following this, a notification was issued on July 30 by the PIA stating that those employees aged 57 on July 31, 2008, would be retired while those having seven to eight months before they turn 57 had been exempted.

Some flight engineers claimed that younger engineers were trying to induct people from their own batch and hence pave the way for the early retirement of the 57-plus group.

The Malir petition is part of the litigation that has emerged after the redundancy issue was raised. Background interviews have revealed that there is a rift within the flight engineers’ community with two divisions: the younger lot – i.e. 53 to 57-year-old engineers – and those 57 and above.

Both sides have levelled claims and counterclaims against each other. The younger group is accused of enjoying good relations with the PIA management and thus influencing management to put the seniors to pasture, while the younger group accuse the elder lot of wanting to financially cripple the airline despite receiving full benefits from PIA, as they say laying off younger flight engineers with full benefits would cost the airline much more than retiring the 57-plus group with full benefits.

According to the order announced by first senior civil judge Malir, Karachi, Ghulam Ali Kanasiro on Aug 19, 2008: “The plaintiff had already been retired from service as per the decision of the management under mandatory retirement scheme taken by July 30, 2008, whereas the present suit had been filed on 2-8-2008. Thus (an) employee who had already been retired cannot be forced to be retained in service, which is a settled law.”

Citing the precedent of the Asadullah Mangi and others vs. PIA Corporation and others case, the judge said: “a corporation, being an autonomous corporation, cannot be forced to make employment which otherwise is not in the interest of (the) corporation, which had adverse interest on its commercial position.

“Hence, the plaintiffs do not appear to have balance of convenience to grant injunction in their favour since their plaint itself is not found maintainable. Accordingly, the injunction application is dismissed and the plaint filed by the plaintiffs is also rejected in terms of Order 7, Rule 11, CPC, leaving the parties to bear their respective costs.”