While Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has personally approved the appointment, we wonder how this gentleman will be able to turn around the national airline. More important, will he have the powers to do what is needed.
A diploma holder, Jaffer previously served on the PIA’s Board from July 3, 2013 to August 1, 2013. Prior to his appointment, he served as Chairman of the PIA Board’s Information Technology Steering Committee along with being a member of the PIA Board’s Audit Committee and Fleet Management Committee. But this isn’t the kind of experience that we are looking for in a person who is charged with turning around PIA’s fortunes.
The background of Jaffer’s appointment also has to be taken into account. Earlier, Jaffer resigned from the PIA board after the removal of Shujaat Azeem as PM’s Advisor on Aviation. Azeem exited owing to a case against him in the Supreme Court in 2013.
In his letter of resignation then, Jaffer wrote “Since my appointment was on the recommendation of Mr Shujaat Azeem, I feel it is most appropriate for me to resign now as member of board of directors of PIA.”
Shujaat Azeem stepped down as PM’s Aviation Adviser because of a case against him being heard in the Supreme Court involving his dual-nationality, his court martial at Pakistan Air Force and his affiliation with Royal Airport Services (RAS). He then came back this year after the retirement of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.
Will Jaffer be able to break away from Azeem and try to fix the airline? So far, decisions made under Azeem have defied logic.
Having one of the highest aircraft to employee ratios, PIA recently contracted wet leases which meant that it leased planes with crews at a time when it has a surplus of its own. This is one of many such questionable decisions.
The airline management continues to be blackmailed by the all-powerful pilot association. Only recently, it forced the management not to press charges against pilots caught smuggling i-phones. Also, an agreement was reached to pay disputed allowances to pilots who otherwise threatened to go on strike.
There are many pockets on influence and the question is whether they will be tackled. Will we be able to tame the all powerful PML-N backed Air League? This union determines who gets what pay scale and which exemptions in service. That is why while the airline has a ten-fold surplus of employees, domestic flights run on skeleton staff as employees get exemptions from their unions.
It is on international flights that PIA crew want to travel most. After all, the charm of smuggling in i-phones or smuggling out drugs is hard to resist for some. In September, an air hostess was caught smuggling drugs into Milan. By no means an isolated incident.
Then there are the over-eager contractors who supply various items to the airline. In most instances these are also PIA employees who run businesses on the side, like the famous captain who supplied chickens to the airline for several decades. How can Jaffer ensure quality in what is supplied?
If that is not enough there are the travel agents who run their own reservation scams. These travel agencies are also owned fully or partly by PIA employees or their near relations. Thanks to their abuse of the system, the airline loses millions as seats go empty while passengers are stranded at various airports.
Our aviation reporter Saad Hasan in a special report informs us that PIA has 51% of the domestic traffic but 28% of the international market from Pakistan. He also informs us that 51% of the airline’s flights are delayed, and not always because of Rehman Malik.
There is talk now of the core business of PIA being sold to some Gulf-based airline. So now we will wait and see. Is the new chairman the last hope for the national carrier or the final nail in its coffin? Time will tell.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 27th, 2014.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
COMMENTS (7)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
The tragedy is that these business men and women politicians or members of bureaucratic corporate establishment run their own industrial empires hiring the best qualified specialists and strictly enforce oversight and accountability for any financial corruption. However when it comes to state funded corporations like PIA, PSM, CAA, NICL, OEBI, OGRA etc, they consider it kosher to allow their cronies to plunder it and appoint semi literate cronies at helm. PIA is being destroyed by design. Otherwise all PM gas to do is appoint a qualified Pakistani national of integrity and I am sure there is no dearth of them. But than this is not the objective. This is an unfortunate country where both elected and military governments have protected tax evaders and criminal thugs involved in massive flight of capital and even slave trade. In stead of Pakistani citizens, they prefer to appoint dual nationals with split loyalties and Conflict of Interest, so that they facilitate them in abusing their powers and make hay while Sun shines.
The fate of PIA will not be different than that of PSM, which is reportedly shut down completely...just matter of time..thanks to the democratically elected govt....
@Parvez since an angel can't fix it why not applaud the choice of PM who has picked a diploma holder who is better qualified to run a tea stall,,,then again if NS can be elected PM of Pakistan three times why not Mr. Jaffer? NS is as qualified to be PM as Mr. J is to be head of PIA.
If the smartest angel from heaven were to descend in order to put PIA right.........the angel would fail.
An informative and articulate read, facts simply put became a source of learning
PIA is bloated with political flunkies, I know my self that this taxi driver from New York was appointed as PR person to the PIA office in New York because he was a PPP hack. I recall when BB asked me about him and his capabilities to handle this job. Frankly speaking to her about his ability that the man should not be hired even as dog catcher for any city in the US but to my surprise he was given that job regardless of his ability. This is one of major causes for the decline of the PIA, too many incompetent people working for the air line. Another problem with PIA is that certain people buy tickets for economy class and then they are upgraded to first class during the flight specially on international flights. PIA is also abused by so called VIP class and they think that they own the airline. I think it should be run as any other business and keep the free loader away from the airline. It seems the airline is losing ground because of the gross mismanagement , I say fire the excess baggage and make it a lean mean machine like the rest of the airlines in the world.
Turn arounds in aviation takes years, but everyone expects quick fixes. The recent fall in oil prices should help, but the fact remains that PIA's fleet is made up of old, gas guzzlers, who require constant maintenance. Number of employees is always thrown around and true there is alot of space for efficiencies, but labour costs do not make a large chunk of PIA's cost. What would be interesting is to remove the cost of running socially important though uneconomical domestic routes and see how much cross subsidization costs. As far as foreign buyers are concerned, that is but a pipe dream. The airline everyone is thinking of is Etihad which has been on a buying spree, buying chunks in airlines around the world. But given that we have yet to receive full payment from Etisalat for PTCL yet, we are not going to see UAE pour money in. Tough times ahead and it is high time we withdrew our investment of national pride in PIA. Passengers deserve much better.