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The Joint Action Committee of Pakistan International Airlines Employees (JACPIAE) demanded from the government on Wednesday to immediately withdraw its decision of privatising the national flag carrier and instead of selling out its 26 per cent shares in the market the PIA should be given three to six months to recover and regain its lost glory.

Addressing a press conference at the Karachi Press Club, Captain Sohail Baluch, President Pakistan Airline Pilots Association, who also heads the JACPIAE, said that the government should hire a competent, honest and hardworking managing director and constitute a board for the PIA as per the Supreme Court’s instructions.

He was flanked by President CBA Hidayatullah, President Society of Aircraft Engineers Shaukat Jamsheed and office-bearers of several unions and associations of PIA.

The JACPIAE suggested formation of a judicial commission to probe all corruption cases and disciplinary matter related with the PIA as well as appointing a serving judge of the Supreme Court to sort out the issues confronting the national airline.

It called upon the government to purchase new planes and repair all the damaged and outdated aircraft on immediate basis.

The JACPIAE warned that if the government did not review and withdraw its decision of privatising the PIA then all the employees of the national flag carrier would go on peaceful protest against such decision, besides taking the matter to the court.

“We have the right to record our concerns against this decision and we will avail all available options,” the JACPIAE members said. They, however, ruled out the possibility of blocking flight and other operations at the PIA, saying, “The national flag carrier can’t afford such experiment that is why all operations would be run smoothly in favour of the airline and in the interest of the economic condition of the country.

They expressed concern that whosoever buys the 26 per cent shares would certainly have a role in the management of the national airline.

They said that if their demands were implemented in true letter and spirit on emergency basis then the government would see positive changes within six months and if the government feels that the PIA was going in loss and unable to meet its expenditures then it could go for privatising the national airline.

The JACPIAE members blamed political hiring and influence coupled with corruption and mismanagement for the prevailing sorry state of affairs at the PIA. Both the democratic and dictatorial regimes were responsible for the present situation, as only a few MDs and government officials worked outstandingly for the promotion of the PIA, they added.

“The high ranking positions were handed over to the people who were not capable to take decisions and put the PIA on the right direction,” they said, adding, “The corrupt people manipulated the situation, shut down the profit-making routes and hired inefficient people and their relatives on various posts.”

Talking about the PML-N government’s first 100 days performance, they mentioned that the government hired people for the post of MD PIA on five different occasions and on many occasions violated the directives of the Supreme Court.

They said that a meeting to this effect was chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on September 12, which was participated by various federal ministers and acting Chairman PIA Nargis Sethi and MD PIA Muhammad Junaid Younus, but added that the presence of Shahid Khan Abbasi, who has close association with a private airline, has put a question mark over the government’s decision of privatising the national flag carrier.

Zeeshan Azmat
Thursday, September 19, 2013
The News International

LAHORE: All the stakeholders have rejected the proposal of privatising the national flag carrier, stating if any party buys Pakistan International Airlines outright, the government will have to pay Rs200billion to offset the liabilities and loans on government guarantees. This, they maintain, the government cannot afford.

The stakeholders The Nation talked to are of the view that the only viable option is to seek a reputable firm or group willing to buy 25 to 28 per cent of PIA shares with exclusive management rights, whilst the government retains its own shares, and at the moment tries to absorb the existing liabilities.

A retired deputy managing director, who wished not be named, says that going for privatisation will not be in favor of the government as well as PIA which, according to him, is suffering losses to the tune of Rs100 million on a daily basis. He says the privatisation process is a lengthy one and could be completed within two to three years, but could take up to five years due to the brewing security situation in the country. The retired DMD further says during the privatisation process PIA will have to bear unavoidable losses of Rs36 billion per annum which, he opines, the government cannot afford. Then, he adds, expertise of an officer well-conversant with financial and legal aspects of the privatisation process will be required, and if a foreign consultancy has to be hired their charges may run in millions of dollars.

According to a retired PIA engineer, privatising the national flag carrier will not be a solution to the issue. He says [Prime Minister] Nawaz Sharif had during his election campaign promised steps to restructure PIA and restore it to its past glory. He complains the same team, which was responsible for institutionalised corruption-cum-pilferage of revenues, is still at the helm even though Sharif’s party, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, has been in the government for the past three months.

The return of a controversial former air force officer as the adviser aviation, in violation of Supreme Court’s orders that no dual national could hold a public office, is a testimony to this assertion. The officer in question was discharged once being court martialled. Coming back, he handpicked his favourites he had been running a non-governmental organisation with as members of board of directors, with an obvious conflict of interests vis-a-vis his business interests of running a ground handling agency and being involved in the contract for construction of new airport in Islamabad.

Within weeks the apex court intervened and rejected this appointment. Although almost two months have elapsed, there is neither a chairman nor the eight members that would constitute the board of directors, which is solely mandated to take all policy decisions, make executive appointments, promotions and financial approvals.
The irony of the situation is that another controversial appointment of a matriculate has been made against senior executive assignment of DMD. In principle, any appointment to this level could only be made by the board of directors.

Since Nawaz Sharif-led government has taken over, three blue-eyed people have been promoted as deputy general managers and are being sent on foreign postings, despite the fact that they lack the required qualification and requisite experience for the post(s). Two of these blue-eyed are real brothers of a PML-N senator, while the third individual had been turned down by a duly-constituted promotion board earlier.

According to office-bearers of a PIA employees’ union, the federal government will have to funnel into this bottomless pit Rs36 billion each year or Rs3 billion every month which is way above the subsidy allocated for millions of poor Pakistanis to help them afford wheat.
The members of People’s Unity of PIA Employees, popularly known as CBA, further say the half-hearted steps witnessed these 90 days to set things right and the appointments on favoritism all reveal the dominant culture of political appointments or cronyism. Running PIA as a state-owned corporation, under a management nominated by the politically-elected government and subject to bureaucratic-cum-political controls, will be a Herculean task, with a few chances of success, they warn.

Seeking anonymity an office-bearer of Pakistan Airlines Pilots Association says PIA is a national asset and should be protected at any cost. He is of the view that implementation of the policy of appointments on merit alone could make a huge difference and would go a long way making PIA profitable. He says once PIA was a profitable airlines; it had repute and credibility; it had the best and most disciplined and dedicated group of pilots, engineers, sales executives and traffic officers; and one found involved in any kind of financial or administrative irregularity was immediately sacked after a transparent enquiry.

Drawing a comparison between PIA of yesteryears and today, the PALPA office-bearer says when former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had requested PIA chairman Nur Khan for holding up a flight for 10 minutes in Karachi, his request had been denied. Both Rafique Saigol and Nur Khan had been given a freehand during their tenures as PIA chairman and the credit for that of course went to Bhutto because the national flag carrier had been in shambles after the 1971 tragic dismemberment of Pakistan due to the devastation inflicted by air vice marshal Zafar Chaudhry and his deputy air commodore Khaqan.

Indiscipline in today’s PIA is evident from the fact when a junior first officer on September 1 insisted on driving his car onto tarmac to be loaded for transportation to Karachi, delaying flight PK-303 for over 20 minutes.

An office-bearer of Society of Aircraft Engineering Pakistan (SEAP) says that favoritism and nepotism is on the rise in the national flag carrier which Thursday’s countrywide protest of PML-N backed PIA employees against the recent recommendations of the foreign posting boards reflected.

Air League office-bearers are of the view that all the associations of PIA officers and employees are against the decision wherein five PIA officers were awarded foreign postings in violation of the rules. They however brand it a conspiracy against the incoming government. A SEAP representative says the government needs to curb such practices and introduce transparency in postings and promotions.

Another senior PIA officer says the government’s decision of creating a separate aviation division, completely free of any administrative control of Defense Ministry is a wise step. They also say that mere creation of a separate aviation division headed by an independent federal secretary alone will not bear any fruit unless the culture of cronyism, nepotism, indiscipline and massive irregularities is not surgically cleansed.

Pakistan Airline Pilots\’ Association (PALPA) has claimed that implementation of its well researched “fly smart” programme, submitted to PIA management, could result in a saving of Rs 18.65 billion annually. Captain Suhail Baluch, President, PALPA and First Officer, Chakar Ali Shah had spent long hours in preparing the programme which claims that if PIA saves one percent of flying time annually, the accumulative savings will be approximately Rs 1.5 billion.

PALPA President was confident that implementation of “fly smart” programme with immediate effect through cost cutting committee would result in a saving of Rs 18.65 billion annually. And to achieve that magic figure, motivation of employees, passenger friendly attitude, fleet revival, and review and renegotiations of contracts and agreements would be necessary, he said. He emphasised that considering PIA\’s current liabilities and financial health following points should be considered:

— PIA acquired wide body/long range B-777 aircraft. With a grant of US $150 million by Government of Pakistan and a total of US $1.6 billion investment, completely revamp the brand image in the market place. However, due to the fact that real earnings of PIA per aircraft have gone down and since the profit and loss statement is made in Pak rupees, an unnecessary burden is shown in the financing cost due rupee devaluation.

— PIA fleet renewal plan should be staggered in two phases, ie in phase one, to maintain schedule integrity and punctuality as per industry practice and similar type of aircraft with similar engines should be inducted which will result not only in substantial savings in recurring maintenance cost but will also save on the crew conversion cost. In phase two, after consolidation and maintaining at least a break even level, the airline can embark on a fleet modernisation/expansion plan for the medium term period.

—- It is highly recommended that the present obsolete fleet of B-737-300 aircraft, of which only two are operational, PIA should dispose off these aircraft along with all surplus inventory to generate cash and acquire B-737-400 aircraft on dry lease basis.

—- Likewise, at present out of a fleet of 12 A310-300 only eight aircraft are operational. In order to maintain a sustainable schedule for improved productivity denominator, ie ATK\’s. PIA needs a minimum of 25 operating aircraft other than the turbo props. Four earlier vintage A310-300/A300-600 aircraft with GE engines should be acquired on dry lease basis. This will enable the airline to stop operating B777/B747-300 fleet on short to medium range routes.

—- Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules and regulations are being wrongly understood and interpreted; therefore PIA is focused on A320s to avoid further delays as the airline is in dire need of narrow body aircraft.

—- It is suggested that services of a senior consultant of PPRA may be hired who can assist and guide PIA in acquiring B-737-400, in shortest possible time.

PALPA has also suggested that PIA needs to review/evaluate and then re-negotiate following agreements, in favour of national flag carrier: Sabre agreement, insurance agreement, loan/financial cost agreement, B-777 purchase agreement, utilities charges, welfare canteen and medical charges, fuel purchase agreement within Pakistan and abroad, technical handling agreement, lease/rental policy for equipment, interline agreement, tickets sales agreement, cargo handling agreement, courier service agreement, clearing forwarding agreement, and engine PW 4127 overhaul agreement.

Courtesy: B R

May 07, 2013 IQBAL MIRZA A cash strapped and over burdened with loans and bad repute, national flag carrier, PIA has embarked upon an ambitious task of saving "penny and pence" from wherever they could. The plan presented by Pakistan International Airlines Pilots...