It is a well-known fact that PIACL in its corporate life span experienced its golden periods in terms of profitability and overall efficiency and professionalism under the leaderships of Air Marshal Nur Khan and Air Marshal Asghar Khan: M Z Faisal
M Z Faisal: It is a well-known fact that PIACL in its corporate life span experienced its golden periods in terms of profitability and overall efficiency and professionalism under the leaderships of Air Marshal Nur Khan and Air Marshal Asghar Khan. Ever since the departure of both the above-mentioned erstwhile chairmen, PIACL has been experiencing steady decline in terms of its commercial viability due to, amongst other factors, illegal activities of its unions, associations and interference by previous governments by recruiting personnel on political / constituency based considerations. Such an unhealthy and unnecessary intrusion on the part of successive governments over the years has seriously undermined PIACL’s economic health and has resulted in erosion of standards and corporate values quite alarming and perilous for any corporate entity let alone the national flag carrier of Pakistan. The above-mentioned state of affairs invariably resulted in the creation of a culture which is bereft of performance based merit, and where criminal and illegal activities of its unions and associations’ members become a norm rather than an exception. The politicizing of PIA can be gauged from the fact that it has four unions belonging to four different political parties and six separate associations for Pilots, officers, engineers, technicians, cabin crew and retired employees. These all are pressure groups which depending on their nuisance have signed working agreements with management. These working agreements are purely for the self-interests of these pressure groups. These are mostly headed by retired employees of lower pay groups who do not have stakes in the airline but in their minting money. The properties and assets of the presidents of these unions and associations are testimony of their plundering. They do not let the management system run. They either get their demands fulfilled through gunda gardi or take shelter of courts by filing false litigation based on mala fide. How can an airline run which sees 10 different CEOs in last 12 years.
The recent litigation against the incumbent CEO Air Marshal Arshad Malik is filed by a retired employee Safdar Anjum, who is General Secretary of SSA (Senior Staff Association). Unfortunately, he was also the petitioner against the previous CEO Musharraf Rasool Cyan who ultimately was sacked by the Honorable Supreme Court in 2018. How come a retired employee having yearly pension of not more than one lac engages a lawyer who charges fee of 5 million PKR on two occasions (lawyer fee of more than one crore in almost one year). Similarly, how come, President of Air League shameem akmal, who retired in staff pay group having yearly pension of around 36 thousand only becomes a petitioner against incumbent CEO by engaging a lawyer having fee of around eight millions. Why have these retired employees having meagre pension reached Honorable Supreme Court against the CEO by engaging costly lawyers? Considering their status in PIA, what vision they have about PIA? What are their motives? Who all are behind them? What crime incumbent CEO has committed that they are paying crores to lawyers to remove him? May Allah Almighty have mercy on PIA and do whatever is best for future of PIA,, aameen
