Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has not been able to dedicate sufficient time for the maintenance of its planes in the last months due to a shortage of functional aeroplanes.
Sources inside the national flag carrier reveal that the company is adamant in highlighting the improvement in its Safety Assessment of Foreign Aircraft (SAFA) index which is a superficial standard of measuring aircraft stability. On the other hand, critical incidents go unreported which is why the risk factors of PIA flights have increased.
Due to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Musharraf Rasool Cyan’s mismanagement and lack of experience in airline engineering, the airline is incurring high losses which have topped Rs54 billion in 11 months.
This figure is Rs12 billion more than the losses incurred by PIA during the corresponding term last year.
In the last few months, PIA has compromised on safety and technical problems have increased due to the CEO’s refusal to borrow aeroplanes on wet lease during the peak Hajj season.
These included engine fuel leak of a 777 aircraft at Toronto Airport, grounding of a 777 plane at London’s Heathrow airport, aborted takeoff at Lahore airport, hydraulic failures of a 320 aircraft and fuel consumption at a high rate on a long haul flight which created panic in the cockpit as the fuel might not have been enough to make it to the destination.
An email from the CEO Secretariat also confirms the alarming state of affairs: “It has been observed that during the last few months the flight delays on account of technical issues have increased to a maximum which is affecting airline’s efficiency and reputation, besides causing onward consequential delays.”
“In view of above, the president and CEO have directed to initiate a thorough investigation regarding the status of aircraft maintenance, particularly focusing on the engines maintenance and overhaul planning and implementation, engineering capability to anticipate, monitor and address the defects, effective planning and mechanisms in place to address these issues”, the email added.
Reports also reveal that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) installed PIA team is making desperate attempts to buy more time to survive under the new government with the assistance of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawyer Naeem Bhukhari and Image Builders consultants, who are profiting off conflicts in PIA’s internal management.
