Former minister’s speech in NA blamed for PIA ban

The National Assembly Standing Committee on Aviation on Monday held former aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan responsible for the financial woes of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and the ban on it imposed by several countries, including the US and the UK.

In a meeting held under the chairmanship of Syed Mobeen Ahmed, the committee members lamented that the national carrier had to suffer “irreparable damages” in the wake of the former federal minister’s statement in the National Assembly.

The panel chalked up the ongoing woes of the state entity to the former minister’s “mindlessness” and “disregard for national interest”, saying the speech “broke the national institution’s backbone”.

The PIA landed in hot water in the wake of its flight PK-8303 crashing in Karachi on May 22, 2020, and the subsequent announcement by then aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan of the grounding of 262 airline pilots suspected of dodging their exams.

Sarwar had disclosed in parliament that 150 pilots working for the national carrier had 'dubious licences'.

During Monday’s meeting, the committee expressed its concern over the fake degrees of pilots as it lamented the “bad reputation” which crippled its flight operations to Europe.

The committee directed the aviation ministry to submit a detailed report regarding flight operations in Europe in the next meeting.

Meanwhile, the committee also directed the ministry to submit the report regarding the Boing-777 plane which was impounded at the Kuala Lumpur Airport in Malaysia due to non-payment of aircraft lease dues.

The panel was briefed about the incident earlier this year wherein the captain of the Islamabad-bound PIA flight PK-368 allowed a passenger to sit in the cockpit for a considerable time, compromising the safety of all the passengers.

However, officials representing the national airlines told the committee members that the passenger in question was in fact an employee of the PIA who was eligible and was authorised to travel on the flight deck by the captain as per section 14.1.2 and 14.3.2 of the Operational Manual (OMA) of Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority.

He stated that no breach of rules, national or international took place in the said event. Therefore, the committee dropped the agenda.

Earlier, a briefing on the working and functioning of the ministry of aviation and its attached departments was given to the committee by the secretary aviation ministry.

He apprised the committee that the vision of the ministry was to promote and regulate civil aviation activities and to develop an infrastructure for safe, secure, efficient adequate, economical and well-coordinated civil air transport service in Pakistan.

Three main drivers of control to pursue this vision are strategy, policy and oversight. Under the broad base contours of their strategy, the National Aviation Policy 2019 has emerged as the stepping stone of advancement in aviation. He said that aviation became an independent division under the cabinet secretariat in June 2013 and become a ministry on April 19, 2022.

The ministry spearheads strategy, policy and oversight of all matters related to civil aviation of the Airport Security Force (ASF), Pakistan Meteorological Department, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and Pakistan International Airlines.

He further briefed that the main functions of the ministry are to regulate, and organise, the safety of air traffic and the provision of aerodromes.

The ministry also performs in liaison with International Civil Aviation Organisation and other international organisations.