This is reference to Hena Khan’s letter dated 28-1-11, and your report titled “Doubts about PIA-TA” in your issue of 24 Jan. I would rather have PIA sold to Turkish Airlines headed by competent and highly qualified (PhD holding) men of integrity and intellect than to be handed over to semi educated cronies and crooks who have through manipulation or incompetence brought this airline to economic collapse, where its own paid external auditors have termed it be no more a viable business in the semi-annual report for 2010.
What was being done is not a code-sharing deal in any sense, but amounts to a sellout of routes, because PIA will then have to cease operation to these key destinations in USA and Europe. In any case, either claims by PIA of a Load Factor of over 76 percent are fudged, or there are massive pilferages and corruption in outsourcing maintenance, GSA, ground handling and catering contracts. Because Turkish Airline with Load factor of 71 percent is making profits on the same routes.
PIA had a loss of Rs 42 Billion when this management took over; today the losses have escalated to over Rs 88 billion as on Sept 2010, while liabilities and negative equity have increased manifold and outstanding debts are over Rs 139 billion. There is no state-owned flag carrier in the world which is headed by a CEO who has no college or university degree, but has so many controversies to his credit.
SHAHZAD KHALIL
Sialkot
