Retired employees of the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) on Monday alleged that they had been pushed into prolonged financial distress due to what they describe as an unjust and selective implementation of pension increases over the past five years.
The former officials said that despite the authority contributing billions of rupees in taxes to the national exchequer and providing significant foreign exchange support to the country’s aviation sector, its own retired workforce has been subjected to discriminatory treatment in pension payments.
At the centre of the dispute is a four-tier classification system introduced by the current administration, which retirees say has no legal standing. This categorisation determines who receives annual pension increases—and who is excluded.
Under the system, Category 1 consists of employees who retired on or before June 30, 2014. This group continues to receive every pension increase up to 2025 with no interruption. Category 2, covering roughly 2,280 employees who retired between July 1, 2014, and June 30, 2022, has been denied the increases announced in 2021, 2022, 2024 and 2025. Category 3, comprising 309 employees who retired between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023, received increases for 2022 and 2023 but not for 2024 and 2025.
Category 4, covering retirees from July 1, 2023, to June 2025, was granted the 2023 increase only, while the 2024 and 2025 adjustments were withheld.
Retirees argue that this division directly contradicts the 2014 service rules, which mandate equal treatment for all pensioners regardless of the date of retirement.
The controversy deepened when retirees discovered inconsistencies in the administration’s own decisions. The current management—while previously terming the pension increases of 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 as “excess payments”—later approved the increases of 2011 and 2015 during its 18th Board Meeting held on July 26, 2025. However, the increases for 2016–2019 continue to be labelled “overpayments,” raising critical questions about selective approval and discretionary governance.
Senior retired officer Haseeb-ur-Rehman, who took the matter to the Senate of Pakistan, said the Senate held a detailed inquiry into the issue. The then Secretary Aviation, DGCAA, Director HR and Director Finance were all summoned to explain the basis for terming the 2016–2019 increases as unlawful. None of them could justify the claim, according to the inquiry findings.
Retirees also revealed that a three-member committee—comprising the Secretary of Aviation, the Senior Joint Secretary, a representative of the Auditor General of Pakistan, and a Senior Additional Accounts Officer from Pakistan Civil Aviation—conducted a separate review. That committee also found no evidence of excess pension payments. Both reports, they claim, have not been presented before the PAA Board.
Former employees say the inconsistent stance and continued withholding of pension increases have left thousands of families struggling with rising inflation, costly medical treatment and day-to-day expenses. Category 2 retirees remain the worst affected, but those in Categories 3 and 4 have also faced financial losses due to missing annual adjustments.
