One only hopes that lessons will be learnt and that the new MD will act accordingly.
LAHORE: The government waited for almost three years during which PIA nosedived towards technical insolvency and ignored repeated protests by employees and the media that urgent measures needed to be taken. However, when push came to shove and when the airline’s employees refused to work, only then did the government remove the managing director. It should be noted that the national airline has enough passengers to have a seat factor to make a profit. That is perhaps why it needs to be probed just why the airline would even consider a code-sharing deal on some of its most profitable routes.
What needs to be investigated is why the airline makes a loss despite having a loyal customer base. As long as the airline’s senior management is not surgically cleansed and the corporation not provided with clean and qualified executives, things will never improve. Cronyism must not be allowed to override merit in appointments, promotions and foreign postings. One only hopes that lessons will be learnt and that the new MD will act accordingly.
Malik T Ali
Published in The Express Tribune, February 13th, 2011.
