The Pakistan government has sought bipartisan support to put troubled national flag carrier Pakistan International Airlines out of its misery.
Addressing a Senate Special Committee on PIA, the prime minister’s adviser on aviation Sardar Mehtab Abbasi said: “Such a recommendation from a parliamentary committee will help the government take the difficult decision that it is otherwise hesitating to take.”
The committee was convened to discuss the current financial plight of the airline and recent mishaps which have caused more media scrutiny.
Abassi acknowledged there were three stark choices for PIA: let it operate as normal and see operating loss increase, restructure the airline, or close it down and declare bankruptcy.
Committee chairman Mushahidullah Khan baulked at the latter option saying good quality officials could still turn the airline around to return to its ‘glory days’.
In response Abbasi tellingly said: “Top quality people don’t come to PIA anymore.”
Despite this, the committee recommended a restructuring, starting with dissolving the entire board of directors.
It is still unclear whether this will in fact be carried out due to parliamentary procedural issues.
The committee also sought answers to recent misdemeanours by two PIA pilots.
One was suspended for taking a nap in the business class section during a flight and in another incident a PIA pilot let a Chinese woman into the cockpit.
The latter pilot has a history of harassing cabin crew and is under investigation for a fake degree, the committee heard.
