By Shakeel Ahmed
ISLAMABAD: Chairman Pakistan International Airline (PIA) Air Marshal Arshad Malik has said that there is no pressure with regard to PIA and all of European Union’s apprehensions will be put to rest after complete arrangements.
Air Marshal Arshad Malik expressed these views on the issue of fake pilot licenses while also issuing letters to corporate CEOs across the country.
He said that the national airline had flights in 21 countries before the ban and operated special flights all over the world, including the United States, Australia, Africa and South Korea. For the first time in history, direct flights were also operated from Pakistan to the United States.
The Chairman said that after taking over the command of the airline, PIA has been run on a purely commercial basis and did not come under any pressure. Our goals were the promotion of merit, establishment of discipline, responsibility and accountability.
Air Marshal Arshad Malik said that even in 2007 the European Union had banned Pakistan’s flights. In fact, PIA is on its history’s best position in the safety index owing to gradual improvement over the years.
He said that investigation into fake licenses and degrees had been going on since 2018 after identification by PIA. Pilots and crew with suspicious credentials were suspended after the investigation but the issue could have been handled better, he added.
The head of the national airline said that unfortunately the process went against its intended direction and now, PIA has to defend itself to the world. He said that another department was responsible for the matter.
Arshad Malik said that he is giving suggestions to the government for reforms in civil aviation. It is hoped that after foolproof arrangements, EU’s concerns will be addressed. It is essential for the lasting restoration of PIA’s damaged reputation.
Former Prime Minister and PML-N Vice President Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said that the 262 suspected pilots should be issued show cause notices.
The PML-N vice-president said that the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) issues licences after proper examinations as pilots undergo a written test before becoming captains, CAA issued licenses cannot be suspicious
or fake. He added that announcing that 262 licenses are fake or suspicious without proper investigation was premature, resulting in our reputation being tarnished across the world. He said that the 262 suspicious pilots should be issued show cause notices and if any foul play is revealed, they should be fired immediately. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said that they should be given a chance to prove their innocence in the Court of Inquiry and strict action should be taken against those who made hirings through bribery and corruption.
Federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar on Saturday said that degrees of 30 more pilots out of the 262 pilots suspected of obtaining dubious licenses have turned out to be dubious, media reported.
Addressing a presser in Rawalpindi, Ghulam Sarwar said that out of the overall pilots who were declared dubious, 141 of them belong to the PIA while nine of them work for Air Blue and Serene Air. “They are grounded immediately,” he said.
He said that the flight operations to Europe remained suspended temporarily and the PIA has the right to appeal into the decision.
“We will take strict action against the pilots who are found possessing dubious or fake licenses,” said Ghulam Sarwar while terming the PIA pilots as one of the most professional pilots. The aviation minister said that they were cleaning the mess of the previous governments as neither pilots were recruited after 2018 nor any test was conducted to issue licenses during the period.“The aviation ministry saw political recruitments with 11 chief executives of the PIA replaced during the past 10 years,” he said adding that they took over the PIA with Rs 462 billion debt. The national flag carrier has not purchased any plane since 2006, said Ghulam Sarwar.
“We have to rectify our errors to make PIA one of the best airlines,” he said adding that the case of five Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) officials posted at the licensing section would be referred to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and no one would be spared for committing fraudulent activities.
He said that the airlines across the globe had suffered losses of US$350 billion due to COVID-19 pandemic and many international airlines have terminated their staff due to the ongoing situation. “In the current situation, we have brought down PIA losses from Rs 4 billion to Rs 1 billion,” he said adding that overall losses suffered by the national flag carrier during the pandemic have reached upto Rs6 billion.
The aviation minister said that similarly, the CAA was suffering losses of Rs 2 billion weekly, making it a loss of Rs 20 billion in a moth in terms of flying charges it receives.
