Flying on empty

Another day and another day of woe, confusion and obfuscation at Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). The Hajj flights will begin in August and PIA is woefully underequipped to service the operation — simply it does not have enough operational aircraft to meet the demand. What it does have are three Airbus A310 and 300 aircraft that were grounded over six months ago; and which it now proposed to waive the safety regulations and use these aircraft for Hajj operations. The reasoning behind this startling decision is that replacements for these three aircraft were not yet available. It is proposed that there be exemptions from all safety checks and further to persuade the Saudi authorities to allow these elderly aircraft to land and take off — this being contrary to Saudi policy in respect of older aircraft.

There have been attempts to lease two wide-body aircraft but they have so far been unsuccessful, so the ever resourceful PIA management decided to seek relaxation of safety regulations that are in place presumably because it was deemed necessary to have them. Otherwise why bother with safety regulations at all? Who not just ditch safety as a component of commercial passenger flight and swan off into the blue on a wing and a prayer? If granted a dangerous precedent is established — if the rules can be relaxed once they can be relaxed again. And again. One does not have to be a certified aviation safety expert to ask aloud whether this really is best practice.

The aircraft on the ground are there because they are not airworthy, and cannibalising them for spares may transfer a lack of airworthiness to an otherwise serviceable aircraft. The secretary of the aviation division has assured this newspaper that passengers safety would not be compromised — which is comforting to hear. Less comforting is the apparent willingness by the national carrier to put passengers at potential risk by cutting the safety margins in order to put a fig leaf over poor management. PIA, think carefully before you fly.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 8^th, 2017.

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