Apropos report into PIA flight cancellations by Imran Adnan published in your paper dated Sept 3. There has been a rapid deterioration of PIA and it has been reduced to a liability by a management, which is by design incompetent, corrupt and has no intention to improve services, or stop leakages in revenues and procurement. If the airlines marketing and reservation department is found hand in gloves with errant tour operators and officials of ministry, than Umra and Hajj passengers are destined to suffer untold miseries. When management appoints unqualified cronies to head key departments such as marketing, stores and administration, the objective and goals are not to improve balance sheet, but its complete annihilation.
This organised pilferage of revenues by the airline has become a permanent feature and so has the plunder by Hajj Directorate of funds collected from pilgrims for their boarding and lodging during their stay in Saudi Arabia.
Since no action has been taken against those responsible in the past, it has only encouraged those in this business to continue fleecing these pilgrims without any fear of accountability. Tour operators today own hotels located in Mecca and Madina after fleecing these innocent passengers, who have saved all their lives to perform what should have been a perfectly secure and peaceful visit, instead of an odyssey. What else can you expect from PIA whose executives’ shenanigans are caught on YouTube and they end up being promoted instead of being sacked. More than seven senior US Naval commanders were sacked and court martialed for similar indiscipline. In contrast, PIA which hired lower cadre sales staff in Group 3 have promoted most of them on political recommendations to Group 5 and 6 directly although they submitted fake MBA degrees from a blacklisted university located in AJK(Al-Khair) without any confirmation. PIA should either be depoliticised. It should surgically rid itself of excess fat, or else close down like PANAM.
JAMIL AKHTAR
Islamabad