Appointment of unqualified men with questionable integrity in the PIA seems to be the proverbial last straw that broke the camel’s back. The national airline with an assured load factor of over 70% ethnic Pakistani travellers has been going in a loss, not because of lack of revenues, but due to excessive pilferages, kickbacks, commissions and sheer mismanagement. While the international aviation industry is enjoying the fruits of resurgence in revenues and profits, the PIA in spite of its comparable fare structure, is going nose down. Till the beginning of December 2010, the PIA was insisting on procuring over 42 new aircrafts while its existing fleet was under utilised. When funds were not made available, the airline management desperate to get kickbacks and commissions, and seeing the political climate changes in the offing, reversed their strategy and went ahead to sell their most precious asset, namely the international routes. The accumulated losses of PIA have escalated by over 120 % while their liabilities almost tripled.
The government must be careful as the national economy is in its worst recession and we are almost on brink of defaulting. The PIA’s total fleet and even future sales are already pledged as equity and are owned by the banks. The only thing left were the international routes obtained through years of bilateral agreements, which was its most precious asset. Even they are being sold for a song.
RAHAT SIDDIQI
Karachi
