The PIA chairman faces the Herculean task of cleaning the mess that he has inherited. The staff aboard a PIA flight from Lahore to Paris via Milan somehow did not see that a lady passenger who was supposed to get off at Charles De Gaulle Airport, slept through the 2 hour transit stopover; all systems failed to take notice of this. When an aircraft lands at any airport, the cabin crew purser hands over a list of passengers which includes their passport numbers and nationality, along with cargo manifest carrying details and tag numbers of cargo to be offloaded at station plus details of those in transit. In addition, the local traffic staff at Paris is required to count the number of passengers disembarking at Paris and match it with the numbers on the Load Sheet/ Trim Sheet. The fact that all these monitoring systems failed only proves that PIA staff deputed at Paris are incompetent.
This is what happens when foreign postings are done on political recommendations instead of merit. During the past few years, irregularities, bribes, nepotism and political recommendations were the sole criterion for postings and recruitment. In fact, those holding Pakistani nationality are discriminated against for foreign postings. Instead, these postings or recruitment at PIA’s international hubs in Europe, Canada and USA are done to facilitate individuals for immigration and welfare rather than being beneficial for PIA. Their foreign nationality gives them immunity from accountability by PIA rules, and they can seek refuge as foreign nationals. The most glaring abuses of power were postings of Pakistani immigrants in Toronto when a PIA stewardess and brother-in-law of a director were appointed at Toronto by the former chairman and former MD of PIA. This incident points to glaring flaws in the choice of staff deputed to carry out tasks assigned to them.