Media’s exposure of massive irregularities in the Pakistan International Airline (PIA) has once again given rise to a serious tussle between the PIA management and employee associations.
In a bid to suppress the leakage of classified information, the national flag carrier has asked all employees not to interact with the media, but they have refused to obey, Pakistan Today learnt on Saturday. PIA Industrial Relations Division General Manager Rashid Ahmad, issued a circular (GM(IR)/CBA/11) to all PIA association and union presidents on Friday, asking the employees to not have direct contact with reporters or issue any press release or political statements.
However, the Pakistan Airline Pilots Association (PALPA) and other employees’ associations have refused to obey the order. A PALPA spokesman said the top PIA management wanted to have a free hand to carry out corruption and irregularities, “but PIA employees will never allow it to do that”. Referring to a spare parts procurement agreement with a Dubai-based company, Transworld, and lease of two obsolete Boeing aircraft from a Greek company, he said on the one hand the PIA was incurring heavy losses, while on the other it was inking dubious agreements.
The PIA management was claiming that Transworld had allowed the national carrier a $700 million credit facility. The PIA would save millions of dollars through one windows operation and avoid pilferage of expensive spare parts. “If the agreement was so transparent and favourable why is the management keeping it a secret even after so much criticism,” he asked.
He pointed out that if PIA had managed to get a credit line, why did it lose $10 million in aircraft lease and did not order engines for grounded airplanes. He underlined that the PIA management was involved in serious corruption that was the reason it was trying to conceal the facts.
An official circular made available to Pakistan Today indicated that PIA had already issued similar circulars in the past. The circular pointed out that PIAC Employees (Service and Discipline) Regulation 1985, Rule 63, barred all employees to issue any statement on the behalf of the airline. It stated that the management had taken serious notice of the violation of the Rule 63 (S&D) of the corporation.
It requested the association and union presidents to advise all members to comply with the PIAC regulations and refrain from holding press conferences unless authorised by the competent authority. It indicated that the official spokesman for PIA in such matters was to be the Public Affairs general manager and his division alone was the competent authority to issue statements and deal with media.
The PIA general manager reproduced Rule 63 in the circular, which stated: “No employee shall make any statement or address to the press or deliver a speech on radio/TV, or contribute any article to any newspaper or journal concerning the affairs and operations of the corporation unless duly authorised in writing by the competent authority; provided that no employee shall publish, print, circulate or cause to be published, printed or circulated or otherwise be in possession of any type of literature or make any broadcast on radio/TV, etc, circulated to promote or attempt to promote feeling of enmity or hatred between employees, classes of employees or different provinces, classes, sects, religious orders, or to compromise the integrity of the employee, the security of Pakistan or friendly relations with foreign states, or to offend order, decency or morality.”
