The federal government has appointed former Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Chief of Air Staff Rao Qamar Suleman as the new Managing Director of the state-run Pakistan International Airline (PIA), while present PIA MD Nadeem Khan Yousafzai has been posted to his previous position as Civil Aviation Authority director general. The newly-appointed PIA Managing Director Rao Qamar Suleman retired recently from PAF after serving for 32 years.
He belongs to Lahore and got initial training from PAF Public School, Sargodha where he belonged to the 17th entry (851 – Sabre House). Thereafter, he joined Pakistan Air Force Academy, Risalpur in 1972 and was commissioned in PAF as a fighter pilot on June 1, 1975 in the 59th GDP Course. The former air chief marshal is a graduate of Flying Instructors’ School, Combat Commanders’ School, PAF Air War College and National Defence College, Islamabad from where he did his Masters in Strategic Studies.
I address my comments to the new MD PIA.
I have nothing but sympathies and off course prayers for you. I am sure you are a skilful leader who can deliver. The issue is that you just cannot do anything worthwhile until or unless you are allowed a free hand by the government (something your predecessors did not get). It is highly unlikely that you will get a better deal.
Historically, PIA’s staff has been its strength but political appointments have changed all that. Dishonesty, incompetence and financial malpractices have led PIA to its downfall. I really expect nothing from you until or unless you identify and root out such corrupt individuals from PIA.
The masses are clean and sincere. Perhaps a targeted cleanup would work. Start with critical units such as Revenue Management, Sales, Procurement etc. These very important functions which should not be headed by individuals with a tainted past or a political background / affiliation. There must be zero tolerance for incompetence; General Managers must have the relevant experience and academic background to give direction to their staff. So please appoint the right people in these functions.
Please order a comprehensive audit for all PIA departments. Invite transparency international and other such bodies. Identify the corrupt and kick them out. The criteria for promotion and placement should not be political affiliation or flattery. It should only be competence and performance against targets. Individuals at all managerial levels must be honest, competent and also reflect true leadership skills.
Additional measures should be introduced such as a Speakup Policy encouraging all PIA employees to come forward and highlight cases of corruption. Moreover, risk management is something PIA is simply unaccustomed to. Operational, finacial, reputational and regulatory risks need to be managed more aptly and proactively. A risk management framework must be adopted at PIA.
A lot of people blame the past CEOs for PIAs plight. I won’t. Its easy to blame the top man. Please don’t forget CEOs have come and left but PIA still bleeds. All of them had the same lot of ‘professionals’ to cope up with who excel at the art of ‘surviving’. You should just not try the tried, tested and failed. PIA needs a cleanup… A proper one this time..
I will end on an optimistic note… Good luck to you as the new MD… You have many challenges ahead… I hope you prove me wrong and are able to fly PIA back to stability. Ameen.
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