PIA Chairman Lt General (r) Asif Yasin Malik expressed that the new management has taken over the airline at a very critical point and the agenda is to turn around the airline. He was addressing the PIA officers and staff here on Thursday at the PIA training centre auditorium to motivate them and share the management’s commitment to change the face of the airline by April 2013.
He categorically informed the employees that none of them would be sacked from the airline as a policy. However, strict action may be in place on disciplinary grounds, dereliction of duty will not be allowed and an average employee will have to show at least 80 percent efficiency within his sphere of work. The chairman emphasized that the present management was undertaking various studies at jet speed to ensure efficient savings, career planning for the growth of the employees on merit, ways for improving benefits for the employees, pension policy and staff uniform so that the right man should be placed at the right job to improve the performance of the airline. He expressed confidence in the employees of PIA and said that they were the biggest strength of the management even in difficult situations it is the employees of the corporation which have kept the airline running and was able to conduct one of the best Hajj operations in 2012 which has been acknowledge by not only people in Pakistan but also by the Saudi Civil Aviation Authority and PIA was determined best among 72 international airlines operating from Jeddah. General (r) Asif Yasin Malik further informed that under the PIA revival plan each operational area and department is under study and soon major decisions would be in place to obtain greater potential needed for the turnaround of the airline.
He informed the employees that acquiring aircraft on dry lease is being done in complete transparency and under independent observers to achieve the best in the shortest possible time for improving the PIA fleet the sole revenue earner of the airline. New destinations would be added, some of the closed destinations would be reopened and the PIA Cargo Services would be modernized.
He said that as a soldier he has been the upholder of the country’s flag and since PIA is the national flag carrier, he would ensure that with the collective efforts of all PIA employees this airline keeps flying higher and higher.
