Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Chairman Azam Saigol has said that the administration of the airline has almost no authority and is a hostage to the unions.
“The administration has no control and is helpless. To some extent it is correct that the PIA management is hostage to unions,” Azam Saigol said in an interview with BBC Urdu service
He said the major example of this is the ratio between the staff and the aircraft. He said there are about 14,000 regular and 4,000 daily wagers in PIA since the airline had 14 or 15 aircrafts. He said the airline needs only 4,000 employees to run its existing aircraft fleet. He said this shows how the administration is helpless in running the airline.
The PIA chairman said the administration has no authority in the selection of employees or dismissal from service of anyone on the basis of their performance.
About the accountability in the PIA, Azam Saigol said that the main reason for the lack of accountability is that unions and associations in the airlines are very influential.
He said the management can reach the stage of accountability only after investigation but it is difficult for it to take any steps.
Azam Saigol said that to get out of this situation is not easy and will only happen gradually.
He said that the PIA will increase the number of aircrafts in order to put the employees to productive work instead of allowing them to move about freely and indulge in politics and conspiracies.
About making PIA a company, he said the government made the airline a limited company for privatisation. He said the company will remain under the control of the government whether it is privatised or not.
He said the government changed the decision of selling 26 per cent shares of the airline following opposition by the political parties and strikes by the employees. He said that the government will keep 51 per cent shares with it and for the remaining shares it will bring in a strategic partner.
There are six unions and associations in the airline, the chairman said and added that there is also a very powerful CBA which has a lot of influence.
About the complaints of the passengers against the staff as well as involvement of employees in various crimes, Saigol said it is not appropriate to blame the PIA for this. He said unions and associations decide about the manpower and their service standard and not the administration.
Regarding show cause notices issued during strike by the employees and why no further action was taken after the strike ended, the chairman said that it was unfortunate how the matter was handled. He said people involved in strikes were punished and removed from service and cases were filed against them but somehow they managed to return to work again.
The people working in flights and their respective administrators are not the workers but the looters. I can give you the example that my wife traveled from Islamabad to Lahore. They had a gold in their baggage that was with them while boarding in the plane. The luggage was scanned and informed to the air hostess who stopped my daughter and insisted to leave the luggage to her otherwise plane would not leave. She took out the gold worth more than a millions. We complained to the officer at Lahore air port who agreed to investigate but later on never available when contacted. Probably he has joined the looter air hostess and scanner. We are still waiting an answer from PIA.
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