ISLAMABAD: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has sacked 74 more employees for having fake degrees, engaging in drug smuggling and for poor performance, according to a media report.
Of the 74 employees sacked by the national carrier last month, 27 were dismissed for fake degrees, 31 for unauthorised measures, six for not following rules, four for damaging property, one for involvement in drug trafficking and three for stealing government records, PIA officials told the Express Tribune newspaper.
Another two employees were removed for 'illegal activities'.
Apart from the sacked personnel, four employees were demoted, and 11 others were penalised for various disciplinary issues, the report said.
Now, the number of employees sacked in the airline in the last three months stands at 177, according to the report.
The PIA has taken up a so-called 'cleaning up' exercise of its staff following Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan's probe report into the May 22 Karachi plane crash.
The domestic flight from Lahore to Karachi crashed in a residential area near the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi.
The aviation minister's probe report blamed the pilots and the air traffic control for the tragedy that killed 97 people.
The report called for wholesale changes in the operations of the airline.