The government has decided to sell a 26% stake along with management control to private investors. PHOTO: FILE.
The Joint Action Committee of PIA Employees (JACPIAE) said it was not looking for any confrontation with the government over the privatisation issue, which has jeopardised thousands of jobs, in the larger interest of the national airline.
“PIA cannot afford a standstill. We know operations can’t be stopped no matter what,” said Captain Sohail Baloch, addressing a press conference. “But we will use other options like seeking legal assistance.”
The government has decided to sell a 26% stake along with management control to private investors. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has given the final nod to the proposal, which seeks to stop the drainage of billions of rupees of taxpayers’ money that PIA needs to remain afloat.
Baloch, who is also President of the Pakistan Airlines’ Pilots Association (Palpa), regretted that the government was sticking to its privatisation stance.
JACPIAE was behind the massive protests which led to the ouster of former managing director Aijaz Haroon three years ago when he tried to strike a code-share deal with Turkish Airlines.
Hundreds of flights were cancelled and thousands of passengers were left stranded when PIA employees barged into airports across the country demanding Haroon’s exit.
But the latest statement from unions was devoid of fiery rhetoric and only spoke of measures, which they feel can help revive the airline.
To start with, the unions want the government to appoint a competent board, chairman and CEO who is not a political appointee. “Everyone is after the employees, everyone wants to cut the salaries but no one is considering all the other ways to save money,” complained Baloch.
It has been months since Pakistan Airlines Pilots Association submitted a detailed study to PIA’s management on how to save at least Rs20 billion a year in fuel cost by reducing aircraft weight and turnaround times.
The unions want a judicial commission to investigate all alleged cases of corruption and take those officials to task who have contributed to PIA’s decline.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 19th, 2013.
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COMMENTS (7)
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No competent manager can fix PIA with out massive restructuring and lay offs across the board, anyone who thinks other wise needs to have his head examined...funny how this new line came up after the unions demanded that they be allowed to buy out the govt. i guess they realised that there is no way they are competent to fix this mess and as a private company the free flow of the money from my (the tax payers) pocket will also end and the airline will be finished in an year.
PTCL was privatized some years back and look at the results. I think PIA should also be privatized so that it can revive its status as a worldclass airline
I don't understand what all the commotion is about, if the unions feel they can do it better while keeping costs low, and if they can afford an employee buyout then they should set up their own airline and run that. For now though, the public is employing them, and the public is sick of wasting money bailing them out for no reward. The days are numbered for PIA's public status. Best of luck to the foreign management company that WILL takeover this airline.
I agree that unionism, cronism are the main reason this airline has reached this state......I think the only solution is privatisation......we cannot waste our tax money to keep paying for inefficient and unmanaged employees.......It is better that that money is spent somewhere else like education.......
You forgot to mention mushahidullah's brother appointment in PIA.
The unions are the reason the airlines has been destroyed. They keep their political affiliation, hire political workers and leave the tax payers to pay for them not even showing up to work.
Pakistan should have bankruptcy laws. Then all state institutions running at negative equity should be declared bankrupt so that labor contracts can be broken, union dissolved and real restructuring undertaken through privatization.
Unless a structure to do so is in place, we will keep hearing this mantra again and again!