Lack of business ethics, corporate responsibility and inability to follow rules by private airlines came to the fore
PESHAWAR: The lack of business ethics, corporate responsibility and inability to follow rules by private airlines of Pakistan once again came to the fore when PIA pilots went on strike and these airlines resorted to unfair practices. Meanwhile, the federal government, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and other state regulatory agencies looked the other way in what amounts to criminal negligence and complicity. Air travellers have witnessed the failure of the CAA and the state in protecting taxpaying passengers and obligations to their next of kin in an almost fatal airplane accident.
The CAA seems to be a profitable revenue-generating regulatory agency. Its responsibility is to protect the interests of the travelling public by ensuring that airlines under its regulatory control strictly follow aviation safety standards for aircraft, pilots, technicians, ground handling and cargo agencies involved in providing aviation services. There is an abundance of funds to recruit the best professional aviation pilots, doctors, engineers and inspectors for various fields, who have no conflicts of interest, are under no obligation, receive no remuneration or benefits from airlines under regulatory control as is the practice in other organisations. Yet, many of the CAA’s flight standards inspectors are on deputation or are on the payroll of PIA, Air Blue or Shaheen Air, and cannot be expected to perform their regulatory functions with impartiality. What prevents the CAA from hiring qualified doctors and health technicians to perform random checks for drug or alcohol abuse prior to conduct of duty? Unfortunately, the CAA has become a dumping ground for retired uniformed officers, cronies of political governments and corrupt bureaucrats. If Shaheen Air B737’s left main landing gear ruptured on what was definitely a bad landing, was the structural integrity of this aircraft properly checked and does the CAA have the capability to do so independently without relying on the airline operator’s skills?
In September 2013, a pilot of a Pakistani airline was caught at Bradford Airport prior to departure by the local aviation regulatory agency for consumption of alcohol. It is reported that previously, on various occasions, he had been allegedly involved in such violations, but was let off because he was the son of a bigwig. The pilot would have been banned from performing his duty if the CAA had been conducting random checks, which could have deterred flight crews from such lapses that endanger innocent lives.
G Zaman
Published in The Express Tribune, November 18th, 2015.
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