Airline Fires Pilots Who Faked Their Degrees

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has confirmed that it has dismissed 50 members of staff over false educational qualifications. A number of pilots are said to be among those fired by the carrier. This is the latest in a number of high-profile incidents to have hit the carrier in recent years.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), the South Asian nation’s flag carrier, has confirmed that it has fired 50 members of staff over false education qualifications, reports Agence France-Press. The former employees are said to include three pilots and were fired by the airline over false high school diplomas.

The firings were confirmed by a PIA official on Monday. Speaking to the news agency, Mashood Tajwar, a spokesperson for the airline, said, “The airline has dismissed from service its 50 staffers including three pilots for holding fake high school degrees.”

He also revealed that this wasn’t the first instance of the carrier having to dismiss staff members for fake educational qualifications. According to the news agency, Tajwar added that “at least six” other pilots employed by the airline have recently been dismissed for the same offense.

In addition to dismissing the pilots, he confirmed that PIA has also invalidated their licenses. No clarification was given as to the roles of the other dismissed staff members.

PIA has faced a downturn in its fortunes as of late; recent years have seen the carrier’s finances decline and it has hit the headlines for a number of high-profile incidents.

The news agency reports that PIA was forced to issue an apology last year after neglecting to return human remains back to relatives in Pakistan. Back in 2013, a PIA pilot was imprisoned for being intoxicated just prior to departing the United Kingdom for Pakistan.

Recent years have also seen a number of deadly crash incidents involving the carrier’s craft, including one in 2016 which caused the deaths of all 47 passengers on-board.

[Photo: Shutterstock]