Three PIA officers sacked over CEO’s document discrepancies

The officers had pointed out discrepancies in the date of birth of Dr Musharraf Rasool Cyan

KARACHI: Three officers of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) who had refused to issue employment letter to the incumbent CEO pointing out discrepancies in the date of birth on his documents have been sacked, Daily Express has learnt.

Dr Musharraf Rasool Cyan was appointed as PIA CEO by deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Reportedly, the documents he had submitted contained a matric certificate which had a date of birth that did not match his national identity card.

According to the documents obtained by Daily Express, Dr Cyan’s CNIC shows he was born on November 4, 1967, but the educational certificates issued by the Rawalpindi Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education shows his date of birth as March 12, 1967.

Dr Cyan has served as the Staff Officer to former Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa governor and former minister for aviation Sardar Mehtab Abbasi.



Sources confirmed that Sharif had approved Dr Cyan’s appointment on the request of Mehtab Abbasi. PIA’s former managing director Capt Aijaz Haroon and Capt Junaid Younus were also the hopefuls as they had also been interviewed for the slot.

At least 25 years of experience in the aviation industry is a prerequisite for the post of CEO of the national flag carrier; however, Dr Cyan has literally no experience of working in the aviation industry.

According to sources, after Dr Cyan’s appointment, officers in PIA’s Human Resource Department had pointed out discrepancies in his date of birth and refused to issue the employment letter. They asked for a written order from the then PIA chairman, Irfan Ilahi, to issue the letter.



The PIA chairman and the Aviation Division secretary called up the HR manager from Islamabad, issued the employment letter before sacking the HR manager along with two other officers.

Interestingly, PIA has already fired 383 staffers accusing them of submitting forged documents.

Sources say Dr Cyan, a DMG officer with no experience in the aviation industry, holds a Master’s degree in economics from a London university.

Aviation Secretary Irfan Ilahi, who is also the chairperson of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), favoured Dr Cyan’s appointment, but senior pilots and two former CEOs of the national airline expressed reservations.

When contacted, PIA sought to dismiss the matter. Dr Cyan had submitted an affidavit stating that the date of birth on his CNIC should be considered legal following which the notification of his appointment had been issued by the Aviation Division, according to the national career.