President Asif Ali Zardari Friday directed the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) management to put its house in order and bring in a “wide ranging reform plan” to tone up the PIA by arresting rising liabilities, stemming general decline and converting the state owned airliner into a profitable organisation.
Optimal utilisation of resources
Chairing a performance review meeting of the PIA at Aiwan-e-Sadr, the President took to task the PIA management telling them that injecting more finances alone was not the answer to the problem. “What we need in equal measure is the optimal utilisation of financial, material and human resources as well as finding out of box solutions for renewal of the existing fleet,” he said, adding that a reform package was also necessary for safeguarding interests of the organisation and its employees. Spokesperson Farhatullah Babar said that the special meeting had been convened in the backdrop of reports about the airline that suggested all was not well with it and called for toning up the organisation.
Ensuring cost effectiveness
The President said that timely replacement of the aging fleet with more modern and economical ones would not only reduce the operational costs but also ensure safety of the passengers.
Welcoming management’s initiative to separate non-core activities from the core business, the President said that such steps were urgently needed in order to ensure cost effectiveness of the business.
The President during the meeting also urged the management to ensure that the passengers’ complaints, if any, are properly addressed and that they are properly facilitated while traveling with PIA.
MD PIA Capt. Nadeem Khan Yousafzai briefed the meeting about the organisation and the steps taken to reform the organisation.
Revised aviation policy
During the latter part of the meeting, DG Civil Aviation Authority Air Marshal (Retd) Khalid Chaudhary also briefed the President about performance of CAA.
He informed that in order to promote aviation industry in Pakistan, a revised National Aviation Policy has been drafted.
He said that recently International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) conducted extensive State audit of Pakistan from June 5th to 17th, 2011 and graded Pakistan at 82 per cent compliance level against the World’s average of 65 per cent.
He also said that Safety Management System of CAA was recognised as one of the best in the world especially its drive for achievement of Integrated Management System was highly appreciated by ICAO auditors and experts. CAA has also been invited to assist ICAO in several disciplines, he added.
Air space management
Improvement in Air space management, enhanced capability to design Instruments Flight Procedures, establishment of six new Air Traffic Services routes in Karachi/Lahore FIR (Flight Information Region), newly acquired state-of-the-art air Traffic Management System and Automated Message Handling Systems were amongst the successes of CAA.
Khalid Chaudhary said that various initiatives were being taken in the Airport Service Performance side in line with the current best prevalent practices.
Project financing
Revenue during financial year 2010-11 registered a 6.3 per cent increase over the last year and another increase of 4 per cent is envisaged during next year, he said. He said that for the funding of ongoing mega projects, CAA was exploring the options of financing to the tune of Rs7.1 billion.
The President was also briefed about progress on new Benazir Bhutto International Airport Islamabad. He called for early completion of the project.
The meeting was attended by Ch. Ahmed Mukhtar, Federal Minister for Defence, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Federal Minister for Finance, Dr. Asim Hussain, Federal Minister for Petroleum & Natural Resources, Syed Mehdi Shah, CM Gilgit-Baltistan, Air Marshal (Retd) Khalid Chaudhary, DG Civil Aviation Authority, Capt. Nadeem Khan Yousafzai, MD PIA and Dr. Najeeb Samie, Managing Director PIA Investments Limited. Secretary General to the President Mr. M. Salman Faruqui and Secretaries of Defence and Finance division were also present during the meeting along with other senior officials.
When The President has appointed an incompetent and corrupt man like Nadeem Yousafzai with a team, who are involved in plundering this organization and promoting a culture of cronyism, than how does he expect them to put their own house in order. Is he not aware of the controversies such as PIA outsourcing all its procurement needs to a Dubai company, which has neither any credentials, nor experience. Obviously he should have ordered action against those responsible, failing which it means this irregularity has his consent.
The recent meeting / briefing at the PRESIDENCY in Islamabad about PIA and CAA is basically the review of aviation activities in Pakistan. Aviation policies here are basically planned and approved by aviation division of the ministry of defence and thereafter implemented through CAA Pakistan. CAA functions as a regulatory body and PIA as the major player for the aviation activities.
PIA present downfall started with the introduction of open sky policy which took away its regular passengers load to some extent, although it was good for the general public as it provided cheap air travel facility. . New airlines started in the region and these airlines attracted the experienced and traIned manpower of PIA. Presently, PIA employees are the lowest paid in the region and so they leave the airline for good financial benefits. President s desire to put PIA house in order can not be achieved unless this brain drain is stopped.
Due to financial constraints PIA has not been able to maintain its spare parts stocks as required and so it is becoming difficult for the airline to keep all its aircraft in airworthy condition.PIA needs fresh stocks of spare parts and its regular supply for smooth operation.
TO overcome the shortage of skilled manpower especially pilots and engineers, new induction purely on merit is required . Surplus staff in different department should be adjusted within PIA in those departments which are short of staff.
Which type of aircraft will suit PIA for its future setup,and its induction on priority basis be considered to take the airline back to the smooth and satisfactory operation.
put your house in order, so i can come feed on it?
@Tanvir—-It is revenues that will sustain PIA and not just its employees. Pilferages in PIA revenues, procurement etc cannot take place without the tacit participation of its senior executives. It was PIA Director Stores, an employee who signed a deal giving exclusive rights to a fake Dubai based company, which I am sure has a precentage share owned by senior executives including the MD or Chairman. No airline or commercial organization would do such a damaging deal. What happened last year during Hajj and Umra, when PIA Marketing & Reservation offered bulk of seats at low fares to few select travel agents, created an artificial shortage and these tickets were sold at higher prices to pilgrims, while the former D M made crores in commissions paid by agents. The same Director was shown on You Tube dancing with a whiskey glass balanced on his head. What did PIA management do, it promoted him as DMD in PIA Investments, so that he can now plunder and sell the over billion dollars worth hotels they own in Newyork and Paris. ie Hotel Roosevelt and Hotel Scribe. This year PIA has taken on rent a shed in Jeddah for 25 days at an astronomical rent of $5 Million to serve as a Hajji Camp for returning pilgrims. The plunder continues endlessly.
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