The trouble with: Flying PIA
• Pakistan International Airlines is suffering a loss of Rs70.7 million per day.
• PIA has already lost Rs110 billion over the past three years.
• Despite the crippling losses, PIA employees (retired and serving) enjoy free travel in Pakistan and abroad.
• Cancellation of around 1,200 PIA flights between Aug-Nov 2011 inflicted Rs410 million loss to the airline.
• PIA’s downhill trend is aided by its powerful unions which force key deals to fall through, shut down airports.
• Over the past three years 2,171 people have been recruited in PIA, which has suffered losses worth Rs100 billion in the same time period.
• PIA recruited 237 people in 2011, 1,179 in 2010, while 684 appointments were made in 2009 and 56 in 2008.
• Thousands of PIA employees sacked by Nawaz Sharif’s government were reinstated by the PPP in 2008.
• The number of people hired by the PPP government is the highest in the history of the national flag carrier.
• The total number of airlines authorised to operate on commercial basis is six, including PIA, Air Blue, Shaheen Air, Indus Air, Bhoja Air and Pearl Air.
• This local competition enhances losses of the national flag carrier.
• In 2011, Iran shut its airspace to Pakistani aircraft due to a six-month $600,000 backlog in transit payments.
• PIA’s aging fleets of aircraft have faced increasing technical issues, forcing many planes to be grounded in 2011.
• On September 28 2011, 10 PIA aircraft, out of a fleet of 39, were grounded allegedly due to technical faults.
• On September 27 2011, flight PK-369 made an emergency landing at Multan Airport due to a malfunctioning generator.
• 24 hours later, UAE-bound flight PK-255 had to land in Karachi due to the same issue.
• On August 6, 2011, PK-745 had to make an emergency landing in Karachi after its landing gear failed to retract.
• On September 2 2011, PK-501 carrying 21 passengers and PK-508 with 32 passengers had to make ‘technical landings’ after engine failures.
• On December 12 2011, 11-19 of PIA’s 39 aircraft were believed to have been grounded for technical reasons.
• A potential reason for technical deficiencies in aircraft is the plummeting standards of engineering in the airline.
• Seven out of 26 local airports were closed down due to suspension of PIA flights on account of insufficient traffic load.
• Despite all this, PIA fights on the domestic sector fly with full loads due to lack of viable alternatives.
• The national carrier continues to cost Pakistan billions of rupees.
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