What's new

PIA to achieve break-even in 2025 [Post#362]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">PM IK chaired a high level meeting today on the updates of reforms and restructuring process undertaken by PIA Management. CEO Arshad Malik briefed the august forum. Challenges faced by PIA pertaining to COVID19 were also discussed in detail as aviation is the worst hit industry <a href="https://t.co/zZwtAfRtI1">pic.twitter.com/zZwtAfRtI1</a></p>— PIA (@Official_PIA) <a href="https://twitter.com/Official_PIA/status/1274005581649641473?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 19, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">PM IK chaired a high level meeting today on the updates of reforms and restructuring process undertaken by PIA Management. CEO Arshad Malik briefed the august forum. Challenges faced by PIA pertaining to COVID19 were also discussed in detail as aviation is the worst hit industry <a href="https://t.co/zZwtAfRtI1">pic.twitter.com/zZwtAfRtI1</a></p>— PIA (@Official_PIA) <a href="https://twitter.com/Official_PIA/status/1274005581649641473?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 19, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

It's a good chance to get rid of all Noora and PPP party workers from PIA. The taxpayers should not subsidise family businesses.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">PM IK chaired a high level meeting today on the updates of reforms and restructuring process undertaken by PIA Management. CEO Arshad Malik briefed the august forum. Challenges faced by PIA pertaining to COVID19 were also discussed in detail as aviation is the worst hit industry <a href="https://t.co/zZwtAfRtI1">pic.twitter.com/zZwtAfRtI1</a></p>— PIA (@Official_PIA) <a href="https://twitter.com/Official_PIA/status/1274005581649641473?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 19, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

It's a good chance to get rid of all Noora and PPP party workers from PIA. The taxpayers should not subsidise family businesses.
 
We have been hearing about reforms for PIA for decades now. Its not possible to reform this airline, and it should be privatized. If there is an important route which is not financially viable, then for that route you can give a subsidy to a private company.
 
LAHORE: After dubious licenses scandal involving pilots, another scam hit the national flag carrier on Monday with its officials making about Rs8 million in the sale of tickets for special flights to Europe.

Sources told Dawn that some officials at the Sialkot PIA office accommodated 50 or so old ticket holders for their travel to Italy and Paris on special flights in violation of rules to mint money.

As per policy, the PIA has not been accommodating passengers having tickets issued prior to Covid-19 pandemic, (since mid-March) for any destination.

For special flights, the PIA is issuing new tickets which are almost double the price of the fare charged for regular flights issued prior to the pandemic.

“The officials in question accommodated old purchased tickets by charging extra money from their holders (passengers) for their travel to Italy and Paris,” a source said, adding the officials did this fraud in collaboration with some travel agents.

He said the ‘culprits’ (officials) made some Rs8million from this trick. “Through this fraud the officials also deprived the PIA of a huge sum of money,” he said and added that the fraud had been detected and an inquiry launched against those involved.

PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez was not available for a comment on this matter.

Those availing the special repatriation flights to Pakistan have earlier expressed their concern on inadequate arrangements to acquire tickets, costly fares and non-refundable tickets in case of any mishap.

Earlier, the federal government had asked the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) to book tickets, instead of PIA, for those repatriated from the US.

Lack of coordination between the Pakistani embassy in the United States and the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has been causing problems to stranded passengers in getting their tickets booked for home-bound travel.

Meanwhile, the family of one of the victims of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) aircraft crash on May 22 has urged the Supreme Court to take action against the `mafia’ that it claimed has ruined the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the national flag carrier, and demanded early release of the insurance amount as per the carriage act law.

“There has been a series of fatal accidents in the past and nothing has changed as we have not learned a lesson from these accidents. We request the Supreme Court chief justice to take action against those who ruined the CAA and the airline industry in the country,” said Danish Awan whose mother died in the crash.

Talking to Dawn on Monday, he said financial compensation (insurance) should be provided immediately to the affected families as per the carriage act law.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1565980/pia-loses-millions-in-special-flights-ticketing-scam
 
Last edited:
ISLAMABAD: The Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCoP) is meeting here on Thursday to discuss plan to sell Roosevelt Hotel in New York, owned by the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has opposed the move, terming it ill-timed.

Sources in the Privatisation Commission told Dawn that the CCoP meeting on one-point agenda to discuss the sale of the New York hotel was to be held under the chairmanship of Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Abdul Hafeez Shaikh on Wednesday, but it was postponed for a day due to the unscheduled meeting of the federal cabinet.

Meanwhile, expressing concern over the suspension of PIA operations in Europe and other countries and the decision by various airlines to ground Pakistan-origin pilots and engineers, the PPP has called for a judicial inquiry to find out the “motive and intent” of Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan’s statement about fake and dubious licences of the pilots and termed it an attempt to sell off the national flag carrier and its assets to government cronies at throwaway prices.

PPP wants treason case registered against aviation minister

The PPP also called for resignation of the aviation minister and registration of a case against him on treason charges for bringing a bad name to the country through his controversial statement. It also opposed the government’s plan to privatise Roosvelt Hotel in New York.

In a statement, PPP Senator Raza Rabbani said the “irresponsible statement” of the federal government on the alleged false and irregular licences of pilots had resulted in grave consequences for the national carrier. He said the decision by European countries and the UK to suspend PIA operations would result in almost a virtual shutdown of the national flag carrier.

“A judicial inquiry must be ordered into the motive and intent of such a statement,” Mr Rabbani said in reference to the statement of the aviation minister made on the floor of the National Assembly on June 24 while presenting inquiry reports on the recent PIA plane crash in Karachi and four other previous air accidents.

Mr Rabbani said it seemed that grounds and reasons were being prepared to privatise the PIA at tuppence to cronies of the government.

In this regard, he referred to “a secret and most immediate” notice circulated by the Cabinet Division on June 29 for a meeting of the CCoP on July 1 with Roosevelt Hotel on the agenda.

Mr Rabbani said the result of privatisation done previously was before the nation. “Has K-Electric helped the people in terms of better service?” he asked. Similarly, he said, the PTCL was privatised and till today huge sums of money were outstanding against Etisalat.

Both privatisations, he said, took place when the incumbent adviser to the PM on finance was in the office in previous governments, which also include the PPP’s own government.

PPP’s parliamentary leader in the Senate Sherry Rehman said in a statement that the minister had talked about the fake and dubious licences whereas those of the ill-fated PK-8303 pilots were not fake.

She said not all the pilots were involved in the matter and now even the most of competent pilots and the aviation industry were facing a risk to their careers and livelihoods.

“Is this the time to sell Roosevelt Hotel, when due to the pandemic property prices have come down significantly and it will result in a loss to Pakistan as we will not get the right price,” she said.

“The property is worth billions and it was making profit when I was serving as ambassador to the US,” she said.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1566464/govt-to-discuss-sale-of-pia-hotel-in-new-york-today
 
ISLAMABAD: The Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCoP) is meeting here on Thursday to discuss plan to sell Roosevelt Hotel in New York, owned by the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has opposed the move, terming it ill-timed.

Sources in the Privatisation Commission told Dawn that the CCoP meeting on one-point agenda to discuss the sale of the New York hotel was to be held under the chairmanship of Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Abdul Hafeez Shaikh on Wednesday, but it was postponed for a day due to the unscheduled meeting of the federal cabinet.

Meanwhile, expressing concern over the suspension of PIA operations in Europe and other countries and the decision by various airlines to ground Pakistan-origin pilots and engineers, the PPP has called for a judicial inquiry to find out the “motive and intent” of Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan’s statement about fake and dubious licences of the pilots and termed it an attempt to sell off the national flag carrier and its assets to government cronies at throwaway prices.

PPP wants treason case registered against aviation minister

The PPP also called for resignation of the aviation minister and registration of a case against him on treason charges for bringing a bad name to the country through his controversial statement. It also opposed the government’s plan to privatise Roosvelt Hotel in New York.

In a statement, PPP Senator Raza Rabbani said the “irresponsible statement” of the federal government on the alleged false and irregular licences of pilots had resulted in grave consequences for the national carrier. He said the decision by European countries and the UK to suspend PIA operations would result in almost a virtual shutdown of the national flag carrier.

“A judicial inquiry must be ordered into the motive and intent of such a statement,” Mr Rabbani said in reference to the statement of the aviation minister made on the floor of the National Assembly on June 24 while presenting inquiry reports on the recent PIA plane crash in Karachi and four other previous air accidents.

Mr Rabbani said it seemed that grounds and reasons were being prepared to privatise the PIA at tuppence to cronies of the government.

In this regard, he referred to “a secret and most immediate” notice circulated by the Cabinet Division on June 29 for a meeting of the CCoP on July 1 with Roosevelt Hotel on the agenda.

Mr Rabbani said the result of privatisation done previously was before the nation. “Has K-Electric helped the people in terms of better service?” he asked. Similarly, he said, the PTCL was privatised and till today huge sums of money were outstanding against Etisalat.

Both privatisations, he said, took place when the incumbent adviser to the PM on finance was in the office in previous governments, which also include the PPP’s own government.

PPP’s parliamentary leader in the Senate Sherry Rehman said in a statement that the minister had talked about the fake and dubious licences whereas those of the ill-fated PK-8303 pilots were not fake.

She said not all the pilots were involved in the matter and now even the most of competent pilots and the aviation industry were facing a risk to their careers and livelihoods.

“Is this the time to sell Roosevelt Hotel, when due to the pandemic property prices have come down significantly and it will result in a loss to Pakistan as we will not get the right price,” she said.

“The property is worth billions and it was making profit when I was serving as ambassador to the US,” she said.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1566464/govt-to-discuss-sale-of-pia-hotel-in-new-york-today

The PPP is a party full of crooks and along with their partners, the Nooras have run every single institution they have ever touched into crap. The question both these crooked parties need to answer is who amongst them hired 1000s of party workers into the PIA?
 
The Cabinet Committee on Privatisation announced that will not be selling the Pakistan International Airlines-owned Roosevelt Hotel in New York but would run it under a joint venture with a third party.

The decision was taken by the cabinet committee which met today (Thursday) under the chairmanship of Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Abdul Hafeez Shaikh.

Today’s meeting also denotified the task force formed for the sale of the hotel. It was also agreed that the hotel would be started from scratch with a private entity.

The committee also agreed to appoint a financial adviser to help the government move towards initiating the joint venture.

Today's meeting was attended by ministers for communication, law and justice, privatisation and power and advisers on commerce and investment and institutional reforms and austerity.

A special invitation was also given to the minister for industries and production and the State Bank of Pakistan governor, among others.

On Wednesday it was reported the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCOP) was taking up the privatisation of Roosevelt Hotel, Manhattan, New York, which is owned by the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).

As per a “secret, most urgent” notice dated June 19, issued by the Cabinet Division, a copy of which is available with The News, the CCOP was to take up the matter on Tuesday.

However, the Privatisation Ministry/Commission Secretary Rizwan Malik told The News that the meeting may be held on Wednesday or Thursday because of the session of the federal cabinet.

The summary for the privatisation of the Roosevelt Hotel was prepared by the Aviation Division.

Rizwan Malik at the time had also clarified that the Roosevelt Hotel was not being sold, as was generally understood from the term, privatisation. He said the basic objective was to involve investors so that the PIA gets handsome money to improve its conditions and the asset is utilised in a beneficial manner.

The secretary agreed that it was not a good time to seek investment in view of the COVID-19, which has affected the business across the globe. He said the process would take a long time as a lot of things were yet to be sorted out before the privatisation.

https://www.geo.tv/latest/295977-cabinet-committee-decides-against-privatizing-roosevelt-hotel
 
Today I learned, the Emirates call sign is EK with the K standing for Karachi (PIA headquarters). In the early days of the airline, whenever they inducted a new plane the first flight it would take would be to Karachi to pay homage to PIA for helping setup Emirates.



Aur ab halat dekho. :facepalm:
 
Rizwan Malik at the time had also clarified that the Roosevelt Hotel was not being sold, as was generally understood from the term, privatisation. He said the basic objective was to involve investors so that the PIA gets handsome money to improve its conditions and the asset is utilised in a beneficial manner.

a sensible approach. Its a major asset in New York. Why get rid of it when you can use it to make money?

Overall however they do need to get rid of PIA. but how can you sell a pile of garbage?

as for our great leaders. Lol they are a joke and so are their supporters.
 
PIA suspends dozens of employees with fake degrees

The national carrier, Pakistan International Airline (PIA) has taken action against 52 of its employees in one month.

According to details, a letter has been issued by PIA's Human Resource Department under which the airline has taken action against 52 employees in the month of June, out of which 25 employees were suspended for dubious degrees.

Meanwhile, 21 employees were suspended for persistent absenteeism and one for violating SOPs. Furthermore, two employees have also been suspended for leaking official information on social media, while two employees have been demoted for violating applicable rules and one employee has been suspended for absenting from duty. ۔

On the other hand, eleven PIA employees were also awarded certificates of appreciation for their good performance.

The national airline is in the news these days after Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan announced last week the grounding of 262 airline pilots suspected of dodging their exams, a move that caused global concern.

The minister said the pilots included 141 from Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), nine from Air Blue, 10 from Serene Airline, and 17 from Shaheen Airlines.

The action on the "dubious" licences was prompted by the preliminary report on an airliner crash in Karachi that killed 97 people last month. It found the plane's pilots failed to follow standard procedures and disregarded alarms.

https://www.brecorder.com/news/40002672/pia-suspends-dozens-of-employees-with-fake-degrees
 
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has announced to further reduced the fare for domestic flights on Tuesday.

According to a PIA spokesperson, the national flight carrier has made a historic reduction in domestic fares.

"The one-way fare from Karachi to Islamabad and from Karachi to Lahore has been fixed at Rs9,572 while passengers will also be allowed to carry 7 kilogramme (kg) of hand luggage," the spokesperson added.

The spokesman further said that the discounted fares would be put in effect immediately.

Also read: PIA allowed to operate flights to Europe till July 3

This is the second announcement regarding the reduction in fares as last week, the national flag-carrier, had slashed fares for domestic flights and had fixed Rs12,000 for one-way ticket inclusive of all taxes for different destinations including Islamabad and other cities.

https://www.geo.tv/latest/296789-pia-announces-historic-reduction-in-fares-for-domestic-flights
 
RAWALPINDI: A Pakistan International Airlines flight steward went missing from his hotel after arriving in Toronto, Canada, by a flight carrying passengers from Islamabad.

PIA steward Yasir disappeared from the hotel he was staying in after reaching Toronto on PIA flight PK-781.

The flight steward was found missing from his hotel when the airline’s senior staff contacted him on Monday.

He reportedly replied that he was going to another city and after that his cell phone remained switched off.

The PIA station manager in Toronto informed the Toronto airport authorities that Yasir had gone to another city.

The PIA management has taken notice of the incident and launched an investigation.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1567604/pia-steward-goes-missing-from-toronto-hotel
 
RAWALPINDI: In response to improved travel needs, the Pakistan International Airlines has decided to increase the number of its domestic flights.

According to a spokesperson for the PIA, flights will be increased for Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar and Quetta. He said the two PIA flights will be operated between Karachi and Islamabad and one flight will be operated between Lahore and Karachi daily.

The spokesperson said the special flights of PIA for Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Central Asian States are continuing while flights to and from the United Arab Emirates are expected to be resumed soon.
 
RAWALPINDI: In response to improved travel needs, the Pakistan International Airlines has decided to increase the number of its domestic flights.

According to a spokesperson for the PIA, flights will be increased for Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar and Quetta. He said the two PIA flights will be operated between Karachi and Islamabad and one flight will be operated between Lahore and Karachi daily.

The spokesperson said the special flights of PIA for Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Central Asian States are continuing while flights to and from the United Arab Emirates are expected to be resumed soon.

If we’re being honest it’s because of the ban on flights to Europe, isn’t it? Nowhere left to send the planes.
 
As the government goes about deciding which line it should eventually take to turn the PIA-owned Roosevelt Hotel in New York into a profitable entity, the luxury property has piqued the interest of a name all too familiar in American real estate: Donald Trump.

The revelation came as a top Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) official informed the National Assembly Standing Committee on Privatisation on Wednesday that the United States president is interested in purchasing the hotel, located in New York's Manhattan borough.

At the outset of the meeting, committee member Khawaja Asif of the PML-N inquired from PIA officials whether anyone had shown interest in buying the property. Asif, a former foreign minister, then noted that Trump had wanted to purchase it.

At this, PIA Investment Limited Managing Director Najeeb Sami disclosed that the American president "is still showing interest in Roosevelt".

Billionaire-turned-president Trump already owns seven luxury hotels and several resorts and clubs in a number of major cities across the US, according to The Washington Post.

In his briefing to the committee, Sami said that Roosevelt is a three-star hotel which had been profitable for 99 years. However, the hotel suffered a loss of $1.5 million last year, the official added.

He said it was not profitable for PIA to run the entire hotel on its own and it should, therefore, be replaced with offices and hotels.

"It has been decided to give Roosevelt Hotel on lease on a long-term basis," Sami told the lawmakers.

Earlier this month, the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCoP) had decided against selling off the Roosevelt and to run it through a joint venture instead.

The CCoP had directed the Privatisation Commission to appoint a financial adviser to start the process for the transaction in light of a report by accounting firm Deloitte from July 2019 which recommended that “the highest and best use of the Roosevelt Hotel property is to redevelop the site into a mixed-use [property] (through joint venture) of primarily an office tower over retail and condominium.”

'PML-N should have privatised PIA'
Asif said although his party did not oppose privatisation "at all", this wasn't a suitable time to privatise any entity because the coronavirus pandemic has caused market prices of almost everything to fall.

He said the rights of employees should be protected whenever privatisation is carried out and they should be provided enough funds to start their own businesses. People who own real-estate businesses abroad should not be made part of the body deciding the hotel's fate as it could lead to corruption, Asif added.

The PML-N lawmaker observed that PIA itself could not be privatised in the current circumstances either. He acknowledged that it was a "mistake" on PML-N's part that it remained unable to privatise the national flag carrier during its tenure.

Privatisation Minister Muhammad Mian Soomro informed the committee that various options were currently being looked into regarding the fate of the Roosevelt, adding that a financial adviser will take the decision regarding leasing out the hotel.

The PIA-owned 19-storey hotel with 1,025 rooms plus allied facilities in New York is considered a valuable property that also carries cultural significance for Pakistan. It has remained in the news for the last several years over its proposed auction. However, the management of PIA in the past had always rejected the claims of auction, etc.

The hotel was acquired by PIA Investment Limited on lease during the year 1979 with an option to purchase the property. The airline had purchased the hotel for $36.5 million against a demand of $59.5m by contesting a lawsuit against the owner in 1999. The Roosevelt has been managed by Interstate Hotels & Resorts since 1997.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1569166/t...wned-roosevelt-hotel-in-new-york-na-body-told
 
Senate committee suggests maintaining Roosevelt Hotel status until coronavirus eradicated

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Aviation in a meeting held Thursday recommended maintaining the PIA-owned Roosevelt Hotel's status unchanged until the novel coronavirus was eradicated.

Presided over by Committee Chairperson Senator Mushahidullah Khan, the meeting was also attended by Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan and the secretary of the Aviation Division, Hassan Nasir Jamy. During the meeting, a representative of the PIA, Najeeb Kamran, briefed the committee on developments related to the Roosevelt Hotel — located in Manhattan, New York.

The national carrier took the Roosevelt Hotel on lease in 1978 and bought it later in 1999 for $36.5 million. The historic luxury hotel, the PIA officer added, was making a profit until 2019, whenceforth it did not make any profit due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Kamran added that the Roosevelt Hotel would not make any profits now as the building had become too old.

'Launched an attack'

Following the briefing, there was back and forth between PPP Senators Sherry Rehman and Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, PTI Senators Faisal Javed, Senators Shaheen Khalid Butt, committee chair, secretary Jamy, as well as the federal aviation minister Sarwar.

"You launched an attack as soon as you came," Sen Javed said to Khokhar, to which the latter responded by saying all the questions he asked were from the briefing.

Sen Rehman said the Roosevelt Hotel was not being sold in response to the coronavirus pandemic. It was reported in the news that US President Donald Trump wanted to buy this hotel, she added, noting that it was an attempt to sell off Pakistan's valuable properties and that she rejected it.

Aviation Secretary Jamy said the federal cabinet had abolished the task force set up to sell the hotel and that a financial adviser would be appointed to lease it out by the privatisation commission.

"We are not selling the Roosevelt Hotel," he added.

In response, Senator Mushahidullah asked what was the need to hire a financial advisor if the hotel was not being sold. "Does the coronavirus only impact the Roosevelt Hotel?

"The US president's name was mentioned in the talks related to the Roosevelt Hotel's purchase but there has been no denial [from the government," the senator noted.

Sarwar chimed in, asking in what context did Trump's name come up in this matter.

PTI's Javed said Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis Zulfiqar Bukhari had held a press conference to deny it.

The aviation minister said PML-N leader and former foreign minister Khawaja Asif "was specially invited to the privatisation committee meeting yesterday".

"Asif told the meeting that Trump's son-in-law is interested in buying the hotel," he said. "I can tell you for sure that no one has reached out [from Trump side] at a governmental level.

"The matter is under discussions but whatever happens will be done in a transparent manner. Whatever we have to do is in the wider interest of the country," Sarwar stated.

Free stay at hotel

Sen Butt noted that the Roosevelt Hotel was not anyone's but Pakistan's property. "It may be declared a national heritage property in 2023," he mentioned.

"We have always borne losses from this property. There have been guests from here who have been staying [at the hotel] for free or at a discount.

"A senior government functionary has held some important meetings at this hotel. There will be suspicions if irrelevant people are in the committee," he noted.

"The Roosevelt Hotel has been used to 25% [of its capacity]," he added.

To which, Kamran, the PIA representative, said: "I will resign if it is proved that any single person stayed for free at the Roosevelt Hotel."

"I know many things because I have been hosting delegations there," Butt responded.

Sen Khokhar underlined that the hotel had churned out $424 million in profits from 1997 to 2019. "If it made so much profit, why do you want to sell it," he asked.

To which the PIA officer said the property was old and needed renovation.

Sen Rehman said: "We neither want to sell the hotel or agree to a joint venture."

In its recommendations on the matter, the standing committee then said it suggested the hotel's status remained unchanged until the coronavirus was eradicated.

"The Roosevelt Hotel should be renovated after the coronavirus [pandemic]. The Roosevelt Hotel should neither be sold nor [made part of a] joint venture," it added in its recommendation.

'Dubious' licenses issue

Speaking about the 'dubious' pilot licenses issue, Sen Javed said the "reports had to come out whether the federal minister had spoken on the subject or not".

"This is a bitter step we have to take to improve ourselves," the PTI leader added.

Secretary Jamy then responded, saying: "Kids go to the flying school after completing their FSc [degrees]. They sit for exams with the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority [PCAA] after completing 250 flight hours.

"In the 2017-18 exams, we felt that there were errors in 54 of the 300 licences. Then, we got to know that computerised tests were introduced in 2010 and the problem has been there since then.

"We decided to check all licenses issued to-date since 2010. We have suspended five individuals from our licensing branch," he explained.

Sen Rehman asked why the PCAA chose to issue the pilots' licenses if they were not valid.

"There are many five-star pilots who are going about [looking for jobs].

"The federal minister's Parliament speech about pilots caused damage [to our image] in the world," she added.

The PTI leader responded, saying various previous governments had destroyed the PIA.

28 licenses revoked, 80 more suspended

Sen Khokhar asked if the 262 pilots' degrees were valid, to which the secretary aviation said that was correct. "Are these 262 pilots' licenses fake," the senator asked.

"These licenses are valid," responded the official.

"Was there a problem during their verification," asked the senator, to which the official said: "Yes, that's correct."

In response to a question about commercial pilots, the official said there were 100 among the 262 highlighted.

"We are also conducting an inquiry into [those who handle] our IT system. Our inquiry team has made 54 recommendations. We have revoked the licenses of 28 pilots and suspended the licenses of 80," he added further.

Driving licenses 'also obtained without tests'

Later, while commenting on the meeting, the aviation minister said the degrees of 658 PIA employees and other staff were found to be fake. The prime minister was informed through a report that errors were found in the degrees of 262 pilots, he explained.

"In the near past, there were four accidents [and] we presented those interim reports in Parliament. It is our job to acknowledge our weaknesses and mistakes and fix them," Sarwar said.

"We didn't do it at anyone's orders. In our culture, driving licenses are also obtained without tests.

"I admitted my mistake on the floor of the House. I also said on the floor and in the press conference that licenses had flaws," the minister noted. "I'm not a lawyer. I'm a common person. I'm speaking in the court of the public."
https://www.geo.tv/latest/298319-se...elt-hotel-status-until-coronavirus-eradicated
 
No plan to privatize PIA but to restructure it: says Sarwar

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan on Friday said Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) would not be privatized but to be structured for making it profit oriented organization.

In response to a Calling Attention Notice raised by PML-N Senator Javed Abbassi, PPPP Senator Mian Raza Rabbani and NP Senator Mir Kabeer Ahmed Muhammad Shahi regarding the suspension of operation of PIA flights by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency to their respective countries / region, he said all out efforts were being made to restore PIA past glory.

The minister said that Licensing authority was under observation and action would be taken against those involved in fake documentation.

He said that serving and retired employees involved in this practice would be made accountable and action would be taken against them.

Ghulam Sarwar informed the Upper House that ten countries forwarded licenses of 174 Pakistani pilots for verification of which 166 have been returned after verification so far.

UAE has also sent licenses of 74 pilots for verification out of which 48 have been returned after due verification so far, he added.

He categorically said that the government has no intention to lay off pilots from PIA and induct pilots from Shaheen Airlines or those retired from Pakistan Air Force.

About the appointment of Chief Executive Officer PIA, the minister said that matter was pending before the Supreme Court which would better interpret it.

However, he said that 11 CEOs of PIA were reshuffled during the last ten years but the present government would take no pressure for appointment of officials.

He said that people have given us mandate to make accountable to those involved in damaging the national exchequer.

The accountability process would remain continue across the board and mandate of people would be respected.

He said that the government functionaries have presented themselves for the accountability and this process would remain continue.

Regarding suspension of operation of PIA flights by the European Union Aviation Authority, the minister said consultation was underway to file appeal into the matter adding that appeal would be file before August 30.

He said EU Aviation Authority has not imposed ban on flight operation for the first time.

He said it was not only my statement or ill-fated plane crash in Karachi, which led to the suspension but PIA has been already under observation by EASA for safety hazards since 2007.

The Minister expressed hope that PIA flight operations to European countries would resume by the end of this year Regarding pilots licenses, the minister said pilots’ license verification was being done in the great interest of the organization.

He said the SC has taken suo moto notice into alleged fake degree holders in PIA in 2018.

After through verification 658 employees in PIA were sacked on charges of fake degree, he said.

The employed filed their petitions in high courts and SC against their termination but all petitions were dismissed by the Apex Court.

He said after proper inquiry, licenses of 262 pilots were found suspected and dubious and during the investigation 28 licenses were canceled.

He said the matter of dubious licenses would be brought to the logical end and criminal cases will be lodged against those who were found guilty.
https://www.brecorder.com/news/40007581/no-plan-to-privatize-pia-but-to-restructure-it-says-sarwar
 
Senate committee suggests maintaining Roosevelt Hotel status until coronavirus eradicated

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Aviation in a meeting held Thursday recommended maintaining the PIA-owned Roosevelt Hotel's status unchanged until the novel coronavirus was eradicated.

Presided over by Committee Chairperson Senator Mushahidullah Khan, the meeting was also attended by Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan and the secretary of the Aviation Division, Hassan Nasir Jamy. During the meeting, a representative of the PIA, Najeeb Kamran, briefed the committee on developments related to the Roosevelt Hotel — located in Manhattan, New York.

The national carrier took the Roosevelt Hotel on lease in 1978 and bought it later in 1999 for $36.5 million. The historic luxury hotel, the PIA officer added, was making a profit until 2019, whenceforth it did not make any profit due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Kamran added that the Roosevelt Hotel would not make any profits now as the building had become too old.

'Launched an attack'

Following the briefing, there was back and forth between PPP Senators Sherry Rehman and Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, PTI Senators Faisal Javed, Senators Shaheen Khalid Butt, committee chair, secretary Jamy, as well as the federal aviation minister Sarwar.

"You launched an attack as soon as you came," Sen Javed said to Khokhar, to which the latter responded by saying all the questions he asked were from the briefing.

Sen Rehman said the Roosevelt Hotel was not being sold in response to the coronavirus pandemic. It was reported in the news that US President Donald Trump wanted to buy this hotel, she added, noting that it was an attempt to sell off Pakistan's valuable properties and that she rejected it.

Aviation Secretary Jamy said the federal cabinet had abolished the task force set up to sell the hotel and that a financial adviser would be appointed to lease it out by the privatisation commission.

"We are not selling the Roosevelt Hotel," he added.

In response, Senator Mushahidullah asked what was the need to hire a financial advisor if the hotel was not being sold. "Does the coronavirus only impact the Roosevelt Hotel?

"The US president's name was mentioned in the talks related to the Roosevelt Hotel's purchase but there has been no denial [from the government," the senator noted.

Sarwar chimed in, asking in what context did Trump's name come up in this matter.

PTI's Javed said Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis Zulfiqar Bukhari had held a press conference to deny it.

The aviation minister said PML-N leader and former foreign minister Khawaja Asif "was specially invited to the privatisation committee meeting yesterday".

"Asif told the meeting that Trump's son-in-law is interested in buying the hotel," he said. "I can tell you for sure that no one has reached out [from Trump side] at a governmental level.

"The matter is under discussions but whatever happens will be done in a transparent manner. Whatever we have to do is in the wider interest of the country," Sarwar stated.

Free stay at hotel

Sen Butt noted that the Roosevelt Hotel was not anyone's but Pakistan's property. "It may be declared a national heritage property in 2023," he mentioned.

"We have always borne losses from this property. There have been guests from here who have been staying [at the hotel] for free or at a discount.

"A senior government functionary has held some important meetings at this hotel. There will be suspicions if irrelevant people are in the committee," he noted.

"The Roosevelt Hotel has been used to 25% [of its capacity]," he added.

To which, Kamran, the PIA representative, said: "I will resign if it is proved that any single person stayed for free at the Roosevelt Hotel."

"I know many things because I have been hosting delegations there," Butt responded.

Sen Khokhar underlined that the hotel had churned out $424 million in profits from 1997 to 2019. "If it made so much profit, why do you want to sell it," he asked.

To which the PIA officer said the property was old and needed renovation.

Sen Rehman said: "We neither want to sell the hotel or agree to a joint venture."

In its recommendations on the matter, the standing committee then said it suggested the hotel's status remained unchanged until the coronavirus was eradicated.

"The Roosevelt Hotel should be renovated after the coronavirus [pandemic]. The Roosevelt Hotel should neither be sold nor [made part of a] joint venture," it added in its recommendation.

'Dubious' licenses issue

Speaking about the 'dubious' pilot licenses issue, Sen Javed said the "reports had to come out whether the federal minister had spoken on the subject or not".

"This is a bitter step we have to take to improve ourselves," the PTI leader added.

Secretary Jamy then responded, saying: "Kids go to the flying school after completing their FSc [degrees]. They sit for exams with the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority [PCAA] after completing 250 flight hours.

"In the 2017-18 exams, we felt that there were errors in 54 of the 300 licences. Then, we got to know that computerised tests were introduced in 2010 and the problem has been there since then.

"We decided to check all licenses issued to-date since 2010. We have suspended five individuals from our licensing branch," he explained.

Sen Rehman asked why the PCAA chose to issue the pilots' licenses if they were not valid.

"There are many five-star pilots who are going about [looking for jobs].

"The federal minister's Parliament speech about pilots caused damage [to our image] in the world," she added.

The PTI leader responded, saying various previous governments had destroyed the PIA.

28 licenses revoked, 80 more suspended

Sen Khokhar asked if the 262 pilots' degrees were valid, to which the secretary aviation said that was correct. "Are these 262 pilots' licenses fake," the senator asked.

"These licenses are valid," responded the official.

"Was there a problem during their verification," asked the senator, to which the official said: "Yes, that's correct."

In response to a question about commercial pilots, the official said there were 100 among the 262 highlighted.

"We are also conducting an inquiry into [those who handle] our IT system. Our inquiry team has made 54 recommendations. We have revoked the licenses of 28 pilots and suspended the licenses of 80," he added further.

Driving licenses 'also obtained without tests'

Later, while commenting on the meeting, the aviation minister said the degrees of 658 PIA employees and other staff were found to be fake. The prime minister was informed through a report that errors were found in the degrees of 262 pilots, he explained.

"In the near past, there were four accidents [and] we presented those interim reports in Parliament. It is our job to acknowledge our weaknesses and mistakes and fix them," Sarwar said.

"We didn't do it at anyone's orders. In our culture, driving licenses are also obtained without tests.

"I admitted my mistake on the floor of the House. I also said on the floor and in the press conference that licenses had flaws," the minister noted. "I'm not a lawyer. I'm a common person. I'm speaking in the court of the public."
https://www.geo.tv/latest/298319-se...elt-hotel-status-until-coronavirus-eradicated

These guys are corrupt to the core but that's a sensible suggestion.
 
ISLAMABAD: The Senate was informed on Friday that the national flag carrier was not on the privatisation list.

Winding up a discussion on a calling-attention notice on suspension of PIA flights in European Union countries, Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said the restructuring of the Pakistan International Airlines was on the cards.

He rejected the allegation that his statement on dubious licences of pilots was an effort to bring the state-owned airline to the verge of collapse to pave way for its privatisation.

He said the European Aviation Safety Agency’s (EASA) ban on PIA flights in EU countries and three cities of the UK had been imposed neither due to the PIA plane crash in Karachi nor because of his statement that some of PIA pilots possessed fake degrees. “This is an old issue as the PIA has been facing questions on safety standards since 2007.”

The minister said this was not the first time that the EASA had suspended PIA operations in EU countries. The operations of some of the PIA planes had remained banned from 2007 to 2009 on safety issues and after this, the airline was under surveillance due to safety hazards. The EASA had in 2019 given its six observations on the PIA to comply with till June 30, 2020. “Five of its observations have been addressed and the sixth one on safety standards has yet to be complied with,” he added.

Opposition assails govt over increase in medicines’ prices

The minister said the ban would remain in force for two months till the end of August, but the government was going into appeal by the end of July.

He said the issue of fake licences of PIA pilots was old before the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) came to power and the Supreme Court had taken suo motu notice of alleged fake degrees possessed by employees of the airline in 2018. These people were recruited before 2018. He said the degrees of 17 pilots and many from technical staff, ground handlers and cabin crew had turned out to be fake during a verification exercise carried out on the directives of the apex court and over 600 employees were sacked.

The minister agreed that the examination process to issue licences to the pilots was changed from manual to computerised in 2012 and this led to use of unfair means through illegally accessing passwords. He said an inquiry board formed in 2019 had put a question mark on the credentials of 262 pilots and said their licences were dubious.

He said criminal cases would be lodged against those who issued these licences as money was involved in the matter The minister said the reports that US President Donald Trump was interested in purchasing PIA’s Roosevelt Hotel in New York were wrong. He said this was also wrong to say that the government wanted to induct PAF or Shaheen Airways pilots into the PIA after sacking its pilots.

“We will not privatise PIA rather bring reforms in it and restructure it,” he said, adding that the government wanted to bring the airline back to its days of glory.

At this, PML-N parliamentary leader in the house Mushahidullah Khan said the government was not adopting a uniform policy to sack employees who possessed fake degrees.

Earlier, PPP Senator Mian Raza Rabbani, speaking on a calling-attention notice, placed 19 questions before the house. He asked if it was correct to assume that the issue of Karachi air crash was used to cover the threat of suspension of PIA flights that was looming large due to the management of the airline.

“Is it correct that the government talks only of embarrassment but in actual fact this disclosure has brought PIA to a total collapse? Is it correct that the disclosure was deliberate so that PIA crashes financially and then it is privatised on an ‘as is, where is’ basis to a crony of the government?” he asked.

PML-N Senator Javed Abbasi said the country faced embarrassment due to the statement of the minister on fake licences of pilots.

Drug prices

The opposition blasted the government for yet another hike in the prices of medicines during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Raising the issue on a calling-attention notice, PPP parliamentary leader in the Senate Sherry Rehman said that at a time when the government should have provided relief to the people, it chose to dole out favour to the pharmaceutical industry.

She said the PTI government had allowed pharmaceutical companies to increase prices of medicines by up to 10 per cent.

She said increasing prices of medicines had become a norm for the government.

Taking notice of the health minister’s absence, she said: “How is it fair that this decision comes in the middle of a national and global health crisis when people are already suffering? It is unethical and immoral to increase medicine prices during the pandemic. Even the heartland of capitalism, the US, has not done this. Countries all over the world are providing relief to their citizens but instead of doing this, our government is increasing the prices of medicines and putting the lives of citizens at risk.”

Ms Rehman said: “Unlike their false promises of transparency and merit, arbitrary powers have been used to increase the prices. We [the previous PPP government] had frozen the prices for 13 years but that has been set aside. Health emergencies are terrible traumas and this government has clearly given the message that they do not care about the hardships people are facing.”

Mushahidullah Khan said the PTI government continued to increase the prices of all essential items contrary to the pre-poll promises it had made.

He said the previous health minister, according to then adviser to the prime minister Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, had been removed on corruption charges. He said the appointment of the man as central secretary general of the PTI raised serious questions.

In response, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Mohammad Khan said no government increased drug prices at its free will. He said there were some compulsions as prices were market driven.

He also said that prices of 360 generic medicines had been decreased.

In reply to a question asked by Senate Deputy Chairman Saleem Mandviwala, who was chairing the session, he was assured that the government would try to review the hike in prices of drugs. On the opposition’s demand, the chair referred the matter to the Senate Standing Committee on National Health Services.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1570950/pia-not-being-privatised-senate-told
 
KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Thursday announced to partially restore flight operations for United Kingdom (UK), ARY NEWS reported.

The PIA flights will be partially restored from August 14 and passengers would be able to travel via direct flights to London, Manchester, and Birmingham.

According to details, the national flag carrier has hired planes from European companies along with foreign pilots to facilitate the passengers.

The decision was taken after fares for UK flights from private airlines saw an unprecedented hike in the wake of the ban on national flag carrier’s flight operation.

The fares are likely to return to normal after the resumption of PIA flight operations.

A spokesman for the national flag-carrier said that the flight schedule for the UK flights would be announced soon after Eid ul Azha.

The announcement of the PIA came soon after British Airways on Thursday announced to resume flight operations for Pakistan.

Direct flights will be operated between Islamabad and Heathrow Airport London three times a week, with first British Airways flight landing in the country on August 14 amid extra precautionary measures for the safety of its crew and passenger.

The United Kingdom (UK) government website shared details of the flight operations saying that from London Heathrow the flights will be on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday, departing at 20:30 and arriving in Islamabad at 04:20.

From Islamabad, flights will be on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, departing at 06:15 and arriving in London at 15:00.

The British High Commissioner Dr. Christian Turner CMG, said this was an important moment for UK-Pakistan links.

https://arynews.tv/en/pia-partially-restores-flight-operations-uk/
 
RAWALPINDI: The management of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has made it compulsory for its cabin crew to take a breathalyser test to know how much alcohol they have in their blood before they are permitted to board the flight.

In a directive issued by the PIA’s medical division, which has come into effect immediately, all the cabin crew must undergo medical check-up before boarding the flights.

The notification issued by the medical division said the test would be carried out in the cabin crew briefing rooms by flight surgeon/medical officer or the ground staff supervised by the flight surgeon.

It said all the operating cabin crews are required to undergo the test before operating flights on a “must basis”.

The move came after the Civil Aviation Authority took notice of smoking in the cockpit and the cabin and issued directives to ensure enforcement of SOPs about smoking in the aircraft.

PIA makes arrangements to repatriate Pakistanis stranded in France

Earlier, the Civil Aviation Authority used to conduct tests of pilots and cockpit crew only, and now the PIA would make it mandatory to test its air hosts as well.

Meanwhile, the PIA has made arrangements to repatriate Pakistanis stranded in France.

As part of the plan, the PIA will now operate chartered flights from Paris to Pakistan from Aug 15 to repatriate Pakistanis stranded in France.

The decision to operate chartered flights was taken in the wake of European Safety Agency’s ban on PIA flights. Now the passengers will be able to directly travel to Pakistan from France by chartered flights.

The PIA said the first special flight will be operated from Paris to Islamabad on Aug 15, while another flight for Paris will take off from Islamabad on Aug 16.

According to the flight schedule, a flight will depart for Islamabad from Paris on Aug 29 and another flight will take off for Paris from Islamabad on Aug 30.

The Islamabad airport management has taken all precautionary measures, including social distancing, to the prevent spread of coronavirus and safety of passengers.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1572231/breathalyser-test-now-a-must-for-pia-cabin-crew
 
ISLAMABAD: The government plans to set up another entity named ‘Mainline-1 Authority’ for smooth implementation of $6.8bn China-funded Karachi to Peshawar rail track besides offering voluntary separation scheme (VSS) to the employees of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).

This is part of institutional reforms for restructuring and strengthening of key institutions of economic governance of Dr Ishrat Husain, the prime minister’s adviser on austerity and institutional reforms.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) led by Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, the prime minister’s adviser on finance and revenue, is expected to approve on Wednesday (today) the upgradation and improvement of 1,733km Mainline-1 (ML-1). On completion, the project is expected to double the speed to 160km and 140km per hour of passenger and cargo trains, respectively.

The prime minister has approved the restructuring plan of Pakistan Railways under which the Railway Holding Company on the pattern of Pakistan Electric Power Company as umbrella organisation, besides Freight Traffic Management Company, Passenger Traffic Management Company and Infrastructure Management Company would be carved out.

Authority to implement $6.8bn Karachi-Peshawar rail track

Also, a totally separate ML-1 Authority will also be established for dedicated and focused coordination with the Chinese side. This restructuring exercise will be completed within four months. It will now be the second independent authority to deal with the Chinese investments after the creation of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Authority (CPEC-A) for which a draft law is under debate for introduction in the National Assembly to provide it legal cover. An ordinance on the CPEC-A had expired a couple of months ago.

Moreover, the selection process for new chief executive officer of Pakistan Railways has been started and would be completed in two months while the railways board is being revitalised through induction of members from the private sector and the railway headquarters is being strengthened through induction of four market experts in management pay scales.

The government has also decided to outsource 15 passenger and two freight trains and public-private partnership (PPP) projects would be launched shortly for development and management of railways land and stations.

In June this year, the Central Development Working Party had recommended the project cost at $7.2bn and referred it to Ecnec for formal approval.

The Planning Commission on Tuesday, however, said the estimated cost referred to Ecnec for approval was $6.8bn. This is because of culmination of railway line to Peshawar instead of earlier target of Torkham while the Karachi-Hyderabad section will be built on commercial lines under the PPP mode. ML-1 is a high priority project of Pakistan government irrespective of the political divide.

The project remained under debate because of its huge financial impact, the US opposition to Chinese investments in Pakistan and the limitations of the government of Pakistan under the debt sustainability perspective of the International Monetary Fund. Pakistan Railways had worked out the project cost at $9.2bn which was scaled down by the Planning Commission and the Ministry of Communications through a series of cost cutting measures. The two governments would now finalise the financial arrangements after Ecnec formally approves the project on Wednesday.

The PIA’s restructuring plan has been finalised under which a Strategic Business Plan would be approved by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet within the current month. A Human Resource Rationalisation Plan will also be brought before the ECC for approval within the current month before offering VSS to PIA employees.

Separately, a committee led by finance secretary Naveed Kamran Baloch has been assigned to finalise within this month financial restructuring of PIA’s Balance Sheet which is overloaded with government guarantees and local and international loans and liabilities. On top of that, non-core functions of the airline would be completely separated by December 2020.

The federal government has already decided to retain 324 out of 441 organisational entities. Of the remaining, 10 entities are being transferred to the provinces and relevant divisions while nine entities have been notified for wind up or liquidation and 17 others being merged.

A total of 43 entities would be privatised or transferred to Sarmaya-i-Pakistan and an implementation committee of the cabinet is overseeing the process on a weekly basis.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1572690/pia-employees-being-offered-voluntary-separation-scheme
 
This is a chance to sack all the political appointees of the PPP and the Nooras. We need halve the number and then professionalise the whole airline.
 
RAWALPINDI: The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will partially resume its flights to the United Kingdom from Aug 14 with a hired plane.

PIA spokesman Abdullah Hafeez said on Wednesday that an agreement had been signed between Portugal’s airline and the national carrier.

He said the PIA would operate flights with an Airbus A330, having a seating capacity of more than 300 passengers.

“The PIA has hired a plane and crew from a European company to operate flights using PIA call sign and slots,” he said, adding: “Due to public demand, the national flag carrier is resuming its flights.”

The plane would have economy and business classes with comfortable seating capacity, he said.

Aircraft hired from European company

Mr Hafeez said that passengers would be able to travel to London, Manchester and Birmingham from Pakistan under the new arrangement.

He said that social distancing would be strictly observed in all the flights.

The spokesman said a PIA flight, PK-9702, would depart for Islamabad from Manchester with 250 passengers on Aug 14.

On August 15, PIA flight PK-9785 will depart from Islamabad for London.

He said that booking of seats had been started and all seats had been booked for the first flight.

The spokesman said that the airline would facilitate passengers with 45kg of baggage per passenger on the flights.

He said that after the suspension of PIA flights to the UK, other airlines had increased fares and it was expected that after the resumption of PIA flights, fares of other airlines would also come down.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1572840/pia-to-partially-resume-flights-to-uk-from-14th
 
ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Privatisation decided on Thursday to hold an in-camera session to discuss the leasing of the Roosevelt Hotel site.

The Managing Director of PIA Investments Limited, Najeeb Samie, who attending the meeting, requested chairman of the standing committee to make the event in-camera.

He added that a financial adviser is in the process of being appointed and terms of reference (TORs) are being drawn up in consultation with PIA and the Aviation Division for setting up a joint venture project for prospective mixed use development. As per rules, the proposed transaction structure will be presented before the PC Board and the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCoP) for recommendations and for approval and ratification by the federal cabinet.

In accordance with the transaction structure approved by the federal cabinet, the Privatisation Commission will invite the ‘Expression of Interest’ (EOIs) from potential investors both national and international which will be submitted to PC Board, CCoP and the federal cabinet for approval.

A senior official of the finance ministry briefed the committee on ‘Sarmaya-e-Pakistan Limited’ (SPL). He said the finance division incorporated SPL as a holding company, with the approval of the federal cabinet in February 2019 consisting of three ex-officio members and eight independent directors.

According to the official, the key objective of SPL is to direct, supervise and coordinate the management of subsidiary companies to be transferred to SPL gradually from line ministries. The committee was also informed that six out of eight independent directors including the chairman of the board resigned from SPL in May-July 2019 due to which SPL became dysfunctional. The committee recommended that the vacant positions of the board of Sarmaya-e-Pakistan Limited may be filled immediately.

The meeting was chaired by Syed Mustafa Mahmud, was attended by Minister for Privatisation, Muhammad Mian Soomro, Parliamentary Secretary for Privatisation and MNAs Zulfiqar Ali Khan Dullah, Khurram Shahzad, Shandana Gulzar Khan, Faheem Khan, Syma Nadeem, Shandana Gulzar Khan, Muhammad Pervaiz Malik, Syed Hussain Tariq, Sikandar Ali Rahopota besides senior officers from the ministries of privatisation, finance, aviation division and PIAIL.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1573033/f...e-appointed-for-roosevelt-hotel-privatisation
 
ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on Wednesday approved the payment of all outstanding dues resulting from a debt of $105 million secured by Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan, New York.

“ECC of the Cabinet has given principled go-ahead to the payment of all liabilities and responsibilities resulting from a debt of $105 million secured by the Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Limited (PIACL) owned Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan, New York,” the finance ministry said in a statement.

The ECC meeting, chaired by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, also directed the Finance Division to engage with the law division, aviation division, and Planning Commission to formalise the mode of payment/refinancing "as per the schedule of the loan contracted by the hotel to meet its financial challenges and submit it to the ECC in its next meeting for formal approval".

The ECC also approved the Cabinet Division's proposal to reallocate through a technical supplementary grant lapsed funds of Rs8.01 billion which were allocated for sustainable development goals achievement programme (SAP). These were proposed to be reallocated to respective ministries and divisions.

Furthermore, it approved amendments to the Import Policy Order 2016 to streamline international trade of live animals and their meat products under the international rules and practices.

The committee approved the Finance Division's proposal to allow the Asian Development Bank to launch Offshore Pakistan Rupee (PKR)-Linked Bonds based on conducive market conditions.

A revision in key terms of Prime Minister’s Kamyab Jawan Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme to make it accessible to all Pakistani citizens meeting the criteria was also given the nod.

The ECC also green-lit a proposal by the Ministry of Inter-provincial Coordination to grant an exemption to travel and tourism-related businesses in the annual fees for the renewal of operating licences.

The financial impact of the one-year fee exemption is estimated at Rs17 million.

The committee also took up the restructuring of financing facilities and deferment in re-payment of principal loan amount by one year upon a written request of the borrowers received before June 30 to mitigate the effects of COVID-19. The same facility was extended to borrowers under Prime Minister’s Youth Business Loan Scheme (PMYBL) and Prime Minister’s Kamyab Jawan Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme upon written requests received before September 30, provided the borrowers would continue to service the mark-up amount.

Approval was also given for additional funds of $3 million to be contributed to the SAARC COVID-19 Emergency Fund.

The ECC further approved a supplementary grant of Rs540 billion that was unutilised due to procedural conditions under the COVID-19 relief measures announced in FY2020-21.

The committee also approved the Revenue Division's proposal for the arrangement of Rs40 billion for the payment of income tax refunds of up to Rs50 million pending since 2013.
 
This is a chance to sack all the political appointees of the PPP and the Nooras. We need halve the number and then professionalise the whole airline.

You are very naive if you think that many of the PIA employees do not have relationships with the military and the existing government and would therefore not be protected.

You are like a broken record blaming everything on the PPP and PML. You seem to believe that PTI and the military are not part of the Establishment. Gullible people like you were born to be exploited and always end up being disappointed.
[MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION]
 
You are very naive if you think that many of the PIA employees do not have relationships with the military and the existing government and would therefore not be protected.

You are like a broken record blaming everything on the PPP and PML. You seem to believe that PTI and the military are not part of the Establishment. Gullible people like you were born to be exploited and always end up being disappointed.
[MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION]

It would help if you actually knew who got taken on. As always the Indians blame the PK army and its understandable after the debacle last year and the sweet Chai. The PPP took on 1000s and the Nooras did the same and they did the same in the 90s. PIA has been destroyed by the crooks, I can remember a guy from our village that used to come to England for free in the 90s as he was a member of the PPP. Please do some research otherwise stay quiet.
 
You are very naive if you think that many of the PIA employees do not have relationships with the military and the existing government and would therefore not be protected.

You are like a broken record blaming everything on the PPP and PML. You seem to believe that PTI and the military are not part of the Establishment. Gullible people like you were born to be exploited and always end up being disappointed.
[MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION]

Don't talk about things you don't know about.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You are very naive if you think that many of the PIA employees do not have relationships with the military and the existing government and would therefore not be protected.

You are like a broken record blaming everything on the PPP and PML. You seem to believe that PTI and the military are not part of the Establishment. Gullible people like you were born to be exploited and always end up being disappointed.
[MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION]

The number of military, mostly from Air Force, employees is minuscule compared to the political appointees put in by PPP.
 
The Pakistani government is preparing to lay off up to 8,000 employees at PIA - Pakistan International Airlines (PK, Islamabad Quaid-e-Azam Int'l) as part of restructuring efforts, the country's 92 News television channel reported. The flag carrier currently has a workforce of around 14,000.

The government has directed the ministries of finance and defence to reorganise the airline, giving them one month to prepare a strategic business plan for the company, to be submitted to the Economic Coordination Committee for approval. The process is being supervised by Naveed Kamran Baloch, Pakistan's finance secretary.

Sources at Pakistan's Aviation Division told the financial daily Business Recorder that the government is seeking to divest 26% of its equity in the loss-making airline to a strategic partner to take managerial control once the restructuring process is completed.

The government has earmarked PKR20 billion rupees (USD119 million) to pay outstanding PIA loans for the 2020-21 financial year, down from PKR27 billion (USD160 million) in 2019-20.

The restructuring will include the separation of non-core functions including engineering, catering, and ground handling by December 2020. The measures, if implemented, would reduce the company's total workforce by between 7,000 and 8,000 employees.

Salman Shah, an economist and former finance minister, told the Business Recorder that PIA's main issue was an unnacceptable staff-to-aircraft ratio. There are almost 500 employees per aircraft at the moment, he said, the highest such ratio in the world. What must be eliminated first at the airline is the pervading political culture, he added.

Another prominent economist, Ashfaque Hasan Khan, told the newspaper that there would be strong resistance by unions against the restructuring of PIA with backing from the centre-left Pakistan Peoples Party, the centre-right Pakistan Muslim League, the religious Jamaat-e-Islami, and the secular Muttahida Qaumi Movement. All political parties should be on board before the restructuring proceeds, he advised.

PIA is currently losing about PKR6 billion (USD36 million) per month and spends PKR24 billion (USD142 million) a year on salaries, according to the Business Recorder. Its total debt, foreign and domestic, stood at PKR400 billion (USD2.37 billion) as of June 30, 2019.

The ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows that PIA operates a fleet of 34 aircraft including eleven A320-200s, five ATR42-500s, five ATR72-500s, six B777-200(ER)s, two B777-200(LR)s, and four B777-300(ER)s. It has five more B777-300(ER)s on order from Boeing.

https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/94167-pakistan-govt-to-lay-off-up-to-8000-pia-employees


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Amazing plan first they reduced the fluff in PSM and now doing the same with PIA. I hear PR is next on the chopping block. This government is systematically reforming institutions from inside out. The effects will be seen 7-10 years down the road. For too often our governments have seen SoEs as employment agencies.
 
PIA pilots are overpaid, spend on expensive hotels, reveals internal report

Pilots of the state-run Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) are overpaid despite low productivity and spend on luxurious hotels causing a loss of billions of rupees to the airlines, reveals an internal audit report.

The report, compiled by officials of the PIA and the Civil Aviation Authority, states that the productivity of pilots “was extremely low with respect to industry standards". The airline pilots “were highly paid” even though 49% to 81% “were not even completing their flying hours.”

The internal audit also discloses that PIA pilots and cabin crews spend unnecessary amounts on expensive hotel stays in the country and when travelling out of the country, leading to a loss of billions of rupees. “The expenditure is totally unjustified,” the report notes.

During a stay in Karachi, the crew chooses to book five-star hotels, even though the PIA “owns a hotel in Karachi with a capacity of 300 rooms.”

The expenditure of the national flag carrier, the report adds, could have been saved if the crew and pilots utilized in-house facilities.

Similarly, when the crews travelled to international stations, it chose luxurious hotels over budgeted ones, resulting in a loss of nearly Rs408 million.

A further breakdown, provided in the report, states that Rs14 million were spent in hotel stays in Bangkok, Rs27 million in Beijing, Rs8 million in Birmingham, Rs26 million in Dubai, Rs2.4 million in Jeddah, Rs9 million in Kuwait, Rs1 million in Kuala Lumpur, Rs214 million in London, Rs27 million in Manchester, Rs2 million Oslo, Rs72 million in Paris and Rs7 million in Toronto.

PIA pilots, the reports adds, are highly paid with no productivity. “There is no accountability mechanism that ensures maximum output from the cabinet/cockpit crew.” Furthermore, it adds, the transfer postings of cabin crew are not merit based.

The report recommends that the hotel arrangements for both cabin crews and pilots be reviewed and those hotels should be approved which are close to the airports “to save funds.”

It also suggests revising the perks and pay scales of pilots.

https://www.geo.tv/latest/302615-pi...d-on-expensive-hotels-reveals-internal-report
 
KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday grilled the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) for not submitting the inquiry report of the 2016 ATR plane crash at Hawalian, reported The News.

Forty-two passengers were killed when a PIA plane crashed at Hawalian in December 2016. Prominent singer Junaid Jamshed was also among those who were on the flight and passed away.

A hearing on a petition calling for the inquiry of the 2016 plane crash was held at the SHC. A division bench headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar expressed concern that the final report still had not been presented after three years.

The counsel of the Civil Aviation Authority submitted that ‘preliminary investigation reports’ of the PIA’s ATR crash in Hawalian on December 7, 2016 and A320 crash in Karachi on May 22, 2020 were submitted. The court wondered why the final report of the ATR plane crash incident had not been wrapped up by the Accident Investigation Board.

The high court directed the federal law officer to find out when the Accident Investigation Board would finalise the report on the crash.

The SHC directed submission of the report before the next date of hearing. It observed that if no proper response was submitted, the court would order personal appearance of the secretary aviation before the court and directed the law officer to comply with the direction by September 8.

The petitioner, Syed Iqbal Kazmi, told the court that the Civil Aviation Authority director-general had informed his seniors of serious defects in the functioning of ATR planes. He said that despite being informed of the potential dangers, no action was taken by the authorities to save precious lives.

Kazmi further said that as many as 20 incidents were on record in which PIA's engines had stopped during the flight. Besides, in 90 cases the engines of the ATR planes’ were removed owing to defects, he added.

The petitioner stated that after so many incidents, it was the duty of the cabinet division secretary, the DG CAA and the PIA chairman to not buy outdated planes which posed a risk to the lives of passengers and crew members. The petitioner claimed that the respondents had violated Article 9 of the Constitution and the civil aviation rules.

He pleaded for a judicial inquiry into the crash to hold those responsible and prosecute them. Kazmi also asked for compensation to the legal heirs of the victims.

The petitioner also pleaded the SHC to direct the respondents to ground all planes currently being used by the PIA and to order their inspection by the CAA or any other independent investigating agency or department.

https://www.geo.tv/latest/303428-shc-grills-pia-for-not-wrapping-up-2016-crash-investigation-report
 
ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on Wednesday approved funds worth $142 million to address the financial challenges faced by the PIA-owned Roosevelt Hotel in New York, US.

The decision to grant the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) the funds was made in a meeting chaired by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue, Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, according to a press release issued by the finance ministry.

The move came on the recommendation of a committee constituted in an earlier meeting. It is headed by the Planning Commission's deputy chairperson and comprises the secretaries of the finance, aviation, and law and justice divisions.

The ECC also approved in today's meeting a summary from the Power Division to rationalise 11 quarterly adjustments of the K-Electric from July 2016 to March 2019.

The K-Electric's quarterly adjustments — from July 2016 to March 2019 — would be notified with effect from September 1, 2020, and aim to bring the tariff at par with what is currently in field for the consumers of DISCOs (distribution companies), the statement added.

https://www.geo.tv/latest/305867-ec...r-pia-owned-roosevelt-hotels-financial-issues
 
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has decided not to appeal against a ban imposed by the European authorities, three officials aware of the development told the news agency on Friday.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) banned PIA from flying to the bloc in June over safety concerns, days after the country grounded dozens of its pilots over allegedly dubious qualifications.

“We’ve decided that filing an appeal at this stage will be counter-productive,” PIA spokesman Abdullah Khan said.

The deadline to appeal expired on Aug 31.

Two civil aviation officials told Reuters that all the stakeholders agreed that an appeal would be a futile exercise until reforms in the regulatory framework and a full probe into the pilots’ scandal were completed.

The civil aviation officials declined to be named. The government and the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority did not respond to requests for comment.

Opting not to appeal means the ban will remain in force until the end of 2020 - a year in which PIA was to implement a new business plan aimed at making the company profitable by 2023 - via a route rationalization, increasing flights and adding new sectors like Amsterdam.

With more than $4 billion in accumulated losses, PIA was already struggling financially when flights were grounded in March because of the pandemic. Just as it resumed operations in May, a domestic PIA flight crash in Karachi killed 97 of 99 people on board.

An initial inquiry pointed to a number of safety failures, and sparked a disclosure from authorities that nearly a third of PIA’s pilots may have falsified their qualifications, prompting EASA, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other regulators to ban PIA flights.

PIA had halted commercial flights to the United States before the ban, but was flying charter flights and had planned to restart operations there soon.

The European ban hurt its revenues from overseas sectors such as London, Manchester and Birmingham that were to be a cornerstone of PIA’s turnaround strategy.

Break-even
The business plan put together by the PIA management last year saw those UK routes and new European destinations as key to its turnaround strategy, which also involved inducting at least seven new aircraft to its fleet by 2022.

The year “2020 would be a break-even year followed by return to profitability in 2023,” said the turnaround plan, reviewed by Reuters. It has not been made public.

The expansion plans are now on hold, and the airline plans to revise its turnaround strategy in consultation with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), said PIA’s Khan.

IATA, which is to begin an operational safety audit of PIA this week, said the audit process was standard practice after aircrafts of registered airlines met with accidents.

In an emailed response to Reuters, Albert Tjoeng, IATA’s Assistant Director of Corporate Communications for Asia Pacific, said IATA could not confirm or discuss the body’s consulting projects keeping in view commercial confidentiality.

“It’s a routine audit consequent to which each airline gets an operational clearance certificate. PIA teams are all geared up for the audit,” said PIA’s Khan.

As stated in its turnaround strategy, PIA’s plans to divest non-core businesses such as food catering and ground handling remain on track and it is also set to hire an international consultant to advise on legacy debt, said Khan.

The business plan noted that PIA’s share of international flight traffic into Pakistan had fallen to 27% in 2019 down from 42% a few years prior.

Aside from operational issues, the report cited competition from Middle Eastern airlines as one of the main reasons behind the market share decline, and it proposed that Pakistan revisit its open skies strategy to allow PIA to be more competitive.

The recent bans however, risk further denting PIA’s market share with carriers such as Virgin Atlantic recently announcing direct flights into Pakistan to fill the PIA void.

The new projections of PIA’s market share are being calculated, its spokesman said, adding the airline’s management believes the decline on an annual basis will not be “as brutal as predicted,” due to the pandemic slowing down global traffic.

https://www.geo.tv/latest/306178-pia-decides-to-not-appeal-eu-flight-ban
 
LAHORE: A team of international aviation body has completed a major part of its audit of national flag carrier and expressed satisfaction after a debriefing session of the management was conducted, The News reported Friday.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) Operational Safety Audit Team, which arrived earlier this month on September 07 to review the performance of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), has shown satisfaction with the audit process, company’s transparency and collaboration throughout, according to the publication.

An interim debriefing of the management was also conducted at the PIA head office, it said and added that the IATA experts will share the related findings and observations soon.

The four-member team of IATA experts carried out an operational safety audit of different departments of the airline, including its flight operation, ground handling, flight safety and security and engineering.

The safety audit is conducted every two years with the last one done in 2018.

PIA CEO Air Marshal Arshad Malik thanked the team and praised them for their professionalism.

PIA not to challenge EU ban
Earlier, a PIA official had confirmed that the airline will not appeal against a six-month ban imposed on its lucrative flights to European locations.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) had banned PIA from flying to the bloc in June over safety concerns, days after the country grounded dozens of its pilots over allegedly dubious qualifications.

"We've decided that filing an appeal at this stage will be counter-productive," PIA spokesman Abdullah Khan told Reuters.

The deadline to appeal expired on Aug 31.

Two civil aviation officials told Reuters that all the stakeholders agreed that an appeal would be a futile exercise until reforms in the regulatory framework and a full probe into the pilots' scandal were completed.

Opting not to appeal means the ban will remain in force until the end of 2020 - a year in which PIA was to implement a new business plan aimed at making the company profitable by 2023 - via a route rationalization, increasing flights and adding new sectors like Amsterdam.

With more than $4 billion in accumulated losses, PIA was already struggling financially when flights were grounded in March because of the pandemic. Just as it resumed operations in May, a domestic PIA flight crash in Karachi killed 97 of 99 people on board.

An initial inquiry pointed to a number of safety failures, and sparked a disclosure from authorities that nearly a third of PIA's pilots may have falsified their qualifications, prompting EASA, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other regulators to ban PIA flights.

https://www.geo.tv/latest/308536-iata-satisfied-with-pias-performance-after-audit-report
 
Whilst it's a big hit waiting till the end of 2020, it's impact has been lessened by reduced travellers and now the increased competition from BA and Virgin.

I'm not usually one for privatisation, how it appears to be the only option given PTI have yet to fix the organisationational problems created by the previous tag-team loots of PPP and PMLN.
 
Privatize this pos airline already. Nobody flies with them except for domestics anyway.
 
PIA to retire 3,200 employees to cut costs

The Pakistan International Airlines will be introducing a voluntary separation scheme to cut down its employees, it was decided on Wednesday.

PIA CEO Arshad Malik said no airline in the world with 14,500 employees can survive when it has a deficit of Rs400 billion and liabilities of Rs100 billion.

He said that in two years, PIA will be among the best airlines in the world.

The Senate Standing Committee on Aviation was briefed on PIA’s Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) for its employees in a meeting on Wednesday.

Malik said this scheme will benefit those working for PIA.

He said 39 planes in the airline fleet and 14,500 employees are a contributing factor to the deficit faced by the airline.

The committee chairperson instructed the CEO to wrap up the fake licenses issue soon. He told him to ask international experts to come to Pakistan and check up on it.

https://www.samaa.tv/news/pakistan/2020/09/pia-employees/
 
PIA to retire 3,200 employees to cut costs

The Pakistan International Airlines will be introducing a voluntary separation scheme to cut down its employees, it was decided on Wednesday.

PIA CEO Arshad Malik said no airline in the world with 14,500 employees can survive when it has a deficit of Rs400 billion and liabilities of Rs100 billion.

He said that in two years, PIA will be among the best airlines in the world.

The Senate Standing Committee on Aviation was briefed on PIA’s Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) for its employees in a meeting on Wednesday.

Malik said this scheme will benefit those working for PIA.

He said 39 planes in the airline fleet and 14,500 employees are a contributing factor to the deficit faced by the airline.

The committee chairperson instructed the CEO to wrap up the fake licenses issue soon. He told him to ask international experts to come to Pakistan and check up on it.

https://www.samaa.tv/news/pakistan/2020/09/pia-employees/

The PIA should have 2500-3000 employees max. Who the hell hired these people? Well guess who?
 
PIA to retire 3,200 employees to cut costs

The Pakistan International Airlines will be introducing a voluntary separation scheme to cut down its employees, it was decided on Wednesday.

PIA CEO Arshad Malik said no airline in the world with 14,500 employees can survive when it has a deficit of Rs400 billion and liabilities of Rs100 billion.

He said that in two years, PIA will be among the best airlines in the world.

The Senate Standing Committee on Aviation was briefed on PIA’s Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) for its employees in a meeting on Wednesday.

Malik said this scheme will benefit those working for PIA.

He said 39 planes in the airline fleet and 14,500 employees are a contributing factor to the deficit faced by the airline.

The committee chairperson instructed the CEO to wrap up the fake licenses issue soon. He told him to ask international experts to come to Pakistan and check up on it.

https://www.samaa.tv/news/pakistan/2020/09/pia-employees/

The PIA should have 2500-3000 employees max. Who the hell hired these people? Well guess who?

PPP
[MENTION=135038]Major[/MENTION] Does this upset you?
 
PIA to retire 3,200 employees to cut costs

The Pakistan International Airlines will be introducing a voluntary separation scheme to cut down its employees, it was decided on Wednesday.

PIA CEO Arshad Malik said no airline in the world with 14,500 employees can survive when it has a deficit of Rs400 billion and liabilities of Rs100 billion.

He said that in two years, PIA will be among the best airlines in the world.

The Senate Standing Committee on Aviation was briefed on PIA’s Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) for its employees in a meeting on Wednesday.

Malik said this scheme will benefit those working for PIA.

He said 39 planes in the airline fleet and 14,500 employees are a contributing factor to the deficit faced by the airline.

The committee chairperson instructed the CEO to wrap up the fake licenses issue soon. He told him to ask international experts to come to Pakistan and check up on it.

https://www.samaa.tv/news/pakistan/2020/09/pia-employees/

Nice joke by Mr. Malik.
 
PIA owned Roosevelt Hotel in NY is closing down permanently

Pakistani government-owned Roosevelt Hotel has announced that “it is closing its doors permanently.”

The hotel’s management has cited economic reasons for its abrupt closure. “Due to the current economic impacts, after almost 100 years of welcoming guests to “the Grand dame of New York” The Roosevelt Hotel is regretfully closing its doors permanently as of October 31, 2020,” said a statement released on the hotel’s behalf.

Another statement said that all reservations beyond October will be offered alternative options by the hotel management. “For those guests with future reservations, we are working on communicating alternative accommodations,” noted the statement further.

The hotel was bought by the PIA Investment Limited on lease in 1979. PIA purchased the property for $36.5 million in 1999. The Roosevelt Hotel has been managed by Interstate Hotels & Resorts.

In July Pakistan’s government decided against selling the hotel and announced to run it through a joint venture.

According to a Finance Division statement, the Privatisation Commission was to hire the services of a financial adviser to start the process of its privatization.

A report by accounting firm Deloitte from July 2019 recommended that “the highest and best use of the Roosevelt Hotel property is to redevelop the site into a mixed-use [property] (through a joint venture) of primarily an office tower over retail and condominium.”

Earlier, the PPP had opposed the closure of the hotel by calling it an ill-timed move. “Is this the time to sell Roosevelt Hotel, when due to the pandemic property prices have come down significantly and it will result in a loss to Pakistan as we will not get the right price?” PPP’s leader Sherry Rehman said in a statement.

“The property is worth billions and it was making a profit when I was serving as ambassador to the US,” she added.

In July, another report revealed that the United States President, Donald Trump is interested in purchasing the PIA owned Roosevelt Hotel.

Roosevelt Hotel has been a symbol of Pakistan’s culture and PIA’s glory days for decades.

https://www.brecorder.com/news/40024646/pia-owned-roosevelt-hotel-in-ny-is-closing-down-permanently
 
NEW YORK: The Roosevelt Hotel, a Pak*istani possession in the heart of Manhattan, announced on Thursday it would shut its doors on guests permanently on Oct 31.

“Due to the current economic impacts, after almost 100 years of welcoming guests to The Grand Dame of New York, The Roosevelt Hotel, is regretfully closing its doors permanently as of Oct 31, 2020,” the announcement said.

A hotel spokesperson, when asked for comments, said: “Yes, it is closing down as announced on the website.” Asked why, she said: “Email your questions and we will respond.”

The message on the website said that the hotel was “working on alternative accommodations” for guests with future reservations.

“We have been honoured to serve alongside our wonderful staff and to be a part of our many guests’ and clients’ lives and celebrations, who have graced us over these past nine decades,” the hotel said.

“We have enjoyed being as much a part of our guests’ stories as we have been an integral part of the history of Midtown Manhattan since 1924.”

Officially, the Pakistan Embassy is referring all inquiries about the hotel to PIA, which owns the hotel. “We have not been informed yet,” an embassy spokesman said.

Diplomatic sources, however, explained that the PIA still owned the property as the building had not been sold.

“The hotel has been closed like other hotels in the area because the coronavirus pandemic has almost killed the hotel industry,” one such source said.

The sources explained that the building was still valued at more than a billion dollars. “Pakistan now has two options, sell it or convert it into a condominium like other Manhattan hotels hit by Covid-19,” another source said.

In July 2020, the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCoP) decided against privatising the hotel and to run it through a joint venture instead.

A meeting of the committee was chaired by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh to review the one-point agenda — the privatisation.

The CCoP directed the Privatisation Commission to hire the services of a financial adviser to start the process for the transaction, as proposed by an accounting firm, Deloitte, in July 2019. The firm recommended that “the highest and best use of the Roosevelt Hotel property is to redevelop the site into a mixed-use [property] (through joint venture) of primarily an office tower over retail and condominium.”

The Roosevelt Hotel, which was opened on Sept 23, 1924, was built by Niagara Falls businessman Frank A. Dudley and operated by the United Hotels Company.

The PIA leased the hotel in 1979 through its investment arm, PIA Investments Ltd, with an option to purchase the building after 20 years. Prince Faisal bin Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia was one of the investors in the 1979 deal.

In 1999, the PIA exercised its option and bought the hotel for $36.5 million. In 2005, the PIA bought out its Saudi partner in a deal that included the prince’s share in Hotel Scribe in Paris in exchange for $40 million and the PIA’s share of the Riyadh Minhal Hotel. The PIA has since controlled 99 per cent interest in the hotel while the Saudis have only 1pc.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2020
 
a sensible approach. Its a major asset in New York. Why get rid of it when you can use it to make money?

The reason to sell it is that PIA doesn't have expertise in running hotels. It may be worth $50 million if run by PIA, but worth $100 million if run by a hotel chain. Sell it for $90 million for a win-win for both
 
ISLAMABAD: The government has no plans to sell the historic Roosevelt Hotel in New York, said Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan, terming news about its sale as “speculative” and “misleading”.

The Hotel, a New York city landmark, owned by the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), announced to close its doors permanently last week, after nearly 100 years, due to the coronavirus pandemic and a drop in business activities.

The PIA had acquired the 19-storey building in 1979 on partnership, the minister explained, as reported by the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan. In 1999, the Airlines bought complete shareholding from its own resources and without any aid from the government of Pakistan.

Named after the American President Theodore Roosevelt, the hotel has featured in several big-ticket Hollywood productions and overtime acquired an iconic status in Manhattan.

Read more: PIA's iconic Roosevelt Hotel to close its doors 'permanently' on October 31

After purchasing the hotel, the PIA renovated the structure due to which operations stayed in profit till 2018, the minister said. The hotel has not undergone renovation in the last over 20 years.

Profits began to slump in 2019, putting the financial position of the Roosevelt Hotel in the red, Khan said. He explained that the main reason for its downfall was a deteriorating infrastructure, which was further compounded by the pandemic.

The minister said the hotel was currently operational and had valid contracts till December this year with various other airlines. Multiple options were being considered for its future and all decisions were made collectively by the hotel’s board and the government of Pakistan, he added.

As per estimations, the cost of basic renovation amounted to $32 million, whereas full renovations required $110 million.

Previously, the Roosevelt Hotel’s management had taken a loan of $160 million from the JP Morgan Bank, and had been making regular payments on its own. This year, the payable amount had reduced to $105 million. But the lender sold off its liabilities to another company which was interested in acquiring the Hotel.

This was unacceptable to the PIA and government of Pakistan, the APP reported.

The PIA management was then able to convince the government to intervene by paying off the loans in one-go and securing the asset.
 
NAB to investigate closure of Roosevelt Hotel, losses borne by govt

National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairperson Justice retired Javed Iqbal has taken notice of reports that the historic Roosevelt Hotel, a Pak*istani possession in the heart of Manhattan, will be shuttered by the end of this month, a press statement by the watchdog said on Tuesday.

According to the release, Iqbal has directed the bureau's Rawalpindi director-general to probe the reasons behind the decision to shutter the hotel, which is Pakistan's "national asset".

Furthermore, NAB will look into the reasons behind the alleged loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars borne by the government. The accountability watchdog will also point out officials who allegedly showed "carelessness in performing their national duties" and failed to play a role in making the hotel into a profitable entity.

The statement comes days after the Roosevelt Hotel announced it will shut its doors on guests permanently on October 31.

“Due to the current economic impacts, after almost 100 years of welcoming guests to The Grand Dame of New York, The Roosevelt Hotel, is regretfully closing its doors permanently as of October 31, 2020,” the announcement said.

The message on the website said that the hotel was “working on alternative accommodations” for guests with future reservations.

The Roosevelt Hotel, which was opened on September 23, 1924, was built by Niagara Falls businessman Frank A Dudley and operated by the United Hotels Company.

The Pakistan International Airlines leased the hotel in 1979 through its investment arm, PIA Investments Ltd, with an option to purchase the building after 20 years. Prince Faisal bin Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia was one of the investors in the 1979 deal.

In 1999, the PIA exercised its option and bought the hotel for $36.5 million. In 2005, the PIA bought out its Saudi partner in a deal that included the prince’s share in Hotel Scribe in Paris in exchange for $40 million and the PIA’s share of the Riyadh Minhal Hotel. The PIA has since controlled 99 per cent interest in the hotel while the Saudis have only 1pc.

After fully acquiring the hotel, PIA undertook its renovation. Following refurbishment, it started making profit after a long time and continued doing so till 2018. But the onset of the coronavirus pandemic brought doom to the hotel and tourism sector and Roosevelt Hotel was no exception.

The main reason for its decline is the obsolescence of its infrastructure and depleted room conditions.

Diplomatic sources have clarified that the PIA still owned the property as the building had not been sold.

One such source also attributed the hotel's closure to the novel coronavirus that "has almost killed the hotel industry".

The sources explained that the building was still valued at more than a billion dollars. “Pakistan now has two options, sell it or convert it into a condominium like other Manhattan hotels hit by Covid-19,” another source said.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1584852/nab-to-investigate-closure-of-roosevelt-hotel-losses-borne-by-govt
 
Authorities in Karachi have arrested PIA’s former managing director Ejaz Haroon along with Haneef Pathan, the former director of human resources for the airline, for alleged misuse of authority, sources informed Geo News.

According to sources, the two were arrested by a federal investigative institution for misuse of authority, alleged involvement in financial irregularities and recruiting personnel illegally in the PIA.

The sources further said that the arrests were made after a detailed investigation.

In 2018, it was reported that the FIA had launched an inquiry against Haroon, for allegedly committing massive corruption, being involved in money laundering and accumulating assets beyond known sources of income abroad.

Ejaz Haroon had stepped down from the post of MD of PIA in 2011 after the national carrier's employees had protested against his appointment.

Source GEO
 
Govt OKs funding for airline PIA’s redundancy scheme

ISLAMABAD: Government of Pakistan has approved funding of about $81 million in cash to support flagship carrier Pakistan International Airlines’ planned voluntary redundancy scheme, which could affect thousands of jobs.

The loss-making carrier has been looking to reduce costs, particularly since the impact of the pandemic, as well as the fallout from a fake pilot credentials scandal.

PIA is aiming to cut roughly one-third of its workforce, a document seen by Reuters showed, which would reduce the airline’s headcount to roughly 7,000-7,500 employees from the around 11,000 staff PIA said it employed in its 2019 annual report.

The government has approved 12.87 billion Pakistani rupees ($81.46 million) in funding for the airline to move forward on the voluntary retirement scheme, the document also showed.

The Pakistan government said in a statement on Tuesday: “After … discussion, it was decided to approve, in principal, the voluntary separation from service scheme for PIA.”

In the document seen by Reuters, PIA said it was looking to reduce its aircraft to employee ratio to 250 employees per aircraft.

PIA spokesman Abdullah H. Khan said the scheme was part of the airline’s plan to restructure and bring employee numbers closer to industry standards.

“Employees will be offered an attractive voluntary separation scheme and people would have 14 days to avail (themselves of) the offer,” Khan told Reuters.

The targeted staff ratio is high compared with neighbouring India, where Air India has roughly 130 employees per aircraft, based on Indian government data.

In a business plan submitted to the government last year, PIA said it was looking to have fewer than 5,500 people working on 45 aircraft - or fewer than 125 employees per aircraft - by 2021.

The government statement on Tuesday gave no further details on the redundancy scheme or how many pilots or other categories of staff would be affected.

Earlier this year, the government said PIA had a total of 434 pilots. Some of their jobs have been terminated in an ongoing process of investigating their credentials.

Pakistan’s pilots union, which raised questions on the investigation, cast doubts over the voluntary redundancy scheme.

“I think this scheme will fail as it would take two and half years to complete,” Captain Salman Riaz, president of the Pakistan Airline Pilots Association, told Reuters in a message.

PIA’s move comes as other airlines globally cut costs sharply amid travel restrictions and a collapse in global air travel during the pandemic.

https://www.brecorder.com/news/40033357/govt-oks-funding-for-airline-pias-redundancy-scheme
 
KARACHI: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Monday registered a case against two foreigners for allegedly being involved in an illegal appointment made in the Pakistan International Airlines which caused financial losses to the exchequer.

“The FIA Corporate Crime Circle has registered an FIR against German national Bernd Hildenbrand, a former acting CEO of PIA, for allegedly abusing his powers and illegally appointing Austrian national Hel*mut Bechhofner as a consultant to CEO in October 2016,” said deputy director, FIA, CCC, Karachi, Abdur Rauf.

“The illegal appointment of Austrian national, Helmut Bechhofner caused a loss of $50,203 (equivalent to Rs5,256,254) to national exchequer,” says a press release. “It has been established that the accused German national by abusing his official position as acting CEO of PIA, unlawfully app*ointed the accused Austrian national as consultant in the PIA without the approval of competent authority.”

The case was registered under Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1947 read with Sections 109 (abetment) and 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant, or by banker, merchant or agent) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2020
 
In a first, the Pakistan International Airline (PIA) management on Wednesday issued orders for the transfer of nearly 500 employees from Karachi to Islamabad, sources informed Geo News.

According to the sources, the PIA management has asked 450 employees of the flag carrier's marketing department to shift from the port city to the capital by December 28.

All PIA offices in Sindh — except the ones in Larkana — have been closed, sources said, adding that the officers were first transferred from interior Sindh to Karachi.

Read more: PIA to lay off 3,500 employees as ECC approves Rs12.8b for VSS

Now, PIA has issued orders for transferring the officers from Karachi to Islamabad, sources said.

"The officers are suffering from severe anxiety and frustration after receiving sudden transfer orders," the sources added.

https://www.geo.tv/latest/321918-in...early-500-employees-from-karachi-to-islamabad
 
In a first, the Pakistan International Airline (PIA) management on Wednesday issued orders for the transfer of nearly 500 employees from Karachi to Islamabad, sources informed Geo News.

According to the sources, the PIA management has asked 450 employees of the flag carrier's marketing department to shift from the port city to the capital by December 28.

All PIA offices in Sindh — except the ones in Larkana — have been closed, sources said, adding that the officers were first transferred from interior Sindh to Karachi.

Read more: PIA to lay off 3,500 employees as ECC approves Rs12.8b for VSS

Now, PIA has issued orders for transferring the officers from Karachi to Islamabad, sources said.

"The officers are suffering from severe anxiety and frustration after receiving sudden transfer orders," the sources added.

https://www.geo.tv/latest/321918-in...early-500-employees-from-karachi-to-islamabad

Post CV, PIA needs to be sorted quickly and privatised. It should not have any more than around 4500 employees for the aircraft numbers they have
 
PIA to acquire eight new aircraft on dry lease

RAWALPINDI: The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has decided to add eight new narrow-body aircraft to its fleet on dry lease.

The aircraft with seating capacity of 170-plus (all economy with soft divider after two rows) are expected to be delivered from January to December 2021.

The PIA management has sought bids from different parties by January 11 next year for acquiring the eight aircraft on dry lease, which means the airline would only acquire the aircraft without flight crew.

PIA spokesman Abdullah Hafeez Khan said the airline was looking to improve and modernise its fleet.

The spokesman said new aircraft would replace some of the older planes in the fleet. He added it was part of the business plan PIA had been working on for the past two years which got pushed back due to reduced demand owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Signs agreement to operate direct and daily dedicated cargo flights to China

According to the information available on the PIA website, the airline’s fleet comprises 37 aircraft — seven Boeing 777s, nine Airbus-320s and 21 ATRs.

PIA’s Chief Executive Officer Air Marshal Arshad Malik had said that 12 new aircraft will be added to the airline’s fleet by 2023. With the induction of the new aircraft the PIA’s fleet would go up to 45 by 2023.

Meanwhile, the PIA and Oriental Sky Aviation Ltd signed a landmark cargo charter agreement on Wednesday, paving the way for direct and daily cargo flights between Pakistan and China.

The PIA spokesman said that the instrument of agreement was signed by PIA’s general manager for charters and MD of Oriental Sky Aviation at the PIA offices.

PIA’s CEO Air Marshal Malik and Chief Commercial Officer Ali Tahir Qasim also attended the signing ceremony.

As per the agreement, PIA will operate seven weekly flights to Urumqi (China), with four flights a week originating from Islamabad and three flights from Lahore. It will be one of its kind operations as PIA has never operated daily cargo flights in this sector.

The national airline will be using its Airbus A320s for the said operations.

ARTICLE CONTINUES AFTER AD

When contacted, the PIA spokesperson said that during the Covid-19 pandemic, airlines across the globe had seen unprecedented surge in demand for air cargo and many airlines were converting their passenger planes to cargo freighters to take advantage of this situation.

“PIA is also aggressively pursuing this path and we are evaluating and on a lookout for opportunities to operate dedicated cargo flights to a number of sectors, specifically on China and Central Asian routes.”

PIA is already operating passenger and cargo charters to Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan and Xi’an in China for different customers.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Air Marshal Malik praised his commercial team for initiatives to augment the existing revenue. He thanked the MD of Oriental Sky Aviation for his patronage of PIA.

He said with a daily connection, trade and commerce between the two countries in post-Covid scenario would be greatly facilitated and would help in normalcy after perhaps the most devastating year for commercial aviation worldwide.

Published in Dawn, December 3rd, 2020
 
RAWALPINDI: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has set a target to reduce the number of its employees to 7,500-8,000 for 29 aircraft — over half of the total strength — through the Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) and segregation of core and non-core functions, said a PIA management report filed before the Supreme Court.

At present, PIA has 14,500 employees for its fleet of 29 planes compared to 31,000 employees working for a fleet of 329 aircraft of Turkish airlines.

According to the report, excess manpower has been of great concern for the PIA management. The excess workforce with little work to perform continuously engaged themselves in disruptive activities that negatively impacted others employees’ productivity, the management claimed, pointing out that many workers were doing little or no work with the result that others working hard also got de-motivated.

Keeping it in mind, the PIA report said, it was critically important to right-size the workforce and with the approval of federal government, PIA management offe*red VSS to employees on Dec 7, by offering them one-time payment (the VSS process is likely to be concluded within two months).

Courier service with 320 employees shut in November, PIA management tells SC

The Supreme Court was informed that the PIA management had planned to bifurcate its employees into two categories, core and non-core businesses. The PIA had not been able to perform well in its core business so the non-core businesses had been suffering more gravely. Hence, instead of operating as small profit units, they were hemorrhaging costs and heavy losses, further becoming a big liability for the parent company itself, the report stated.

It added that PIA undertook a wide range of non-core business functions comprising food services and technical ground services, repairs and maintenance of aircraft fleet through a large engineering facility, Precision Engineering Complex (PEC), and Speedex courier service.

These areas consumed a great deal of executive and management time and essentially became distractions from the core business that resulted in lack of focus on PIA’s core business, the report said.

The ‘core’ category comprised the marking, human resources, finance, flight services and procurement departments. After reduction of 3,977 workers from non-core areas, PIA would be saving Rs6.1 billion a year, the report revealed.

Besides, the PIA had extensive aviation engineering capability and with some additional capital investment and technical expenditure in MRO, PIA engineering services could be positioned as a separate company that not only provided services to PIA, but also got business from other airlines in the region, the report said.

It was planned that the engineering services be transformed into a separate business unit by entering into an appropriate joint venture with a leading company, the report said. Under this plan, it added, PIA would offer its services not only in Pakistan but also in regions like Africa and Asia where the demand for such services was rapidly growing. The report said it was a high potential area for business expansion through a separate subsidiary company, free from PIA, and therefore the management could focus on the core business.

Infrastructure valuation
According to the management, a separate feasibility/business plan is being prepared to establish PIA engineering services as an independent company by the mid of 2021. The process has already started for tender for valuation of material and infrastructure.

Besides, the report mentioned, PIA was not well positioned to have effective food operations for a number of reasons. According to the management, the flight kitchen has major core competency gaps as little or no qualified workforce is in place. The facilities and catering equipment are old and require significant upgrade involving capital investment. Given these issues, PIA’s food production quality could not be improved beyond a certain level, as this required a total transformation of the food operations and upgrade of core competencies, it said.

The management believed under these circumstances, it made a perfect business sense to either partially or completely outsource the food operations by entering into a joint venture with a leading company in the industry with expertise of large-scale catering services.

While it was planned that PTA’s food operations would be tendered in the second quarter of 2021 to form a joint venture, the tender for valuation of material and infrastructure was already under process, the report said.

PEC being transferred to PAF
It said that Precision Engineering Complex (PEC) being a strategic unit contributed very little towards PIA, therefore, the prime minister had already given an executive order to transfer PEC to Pakistan Air Force.

Also, the Technical Ground Services (TGS) are increasingly being outsourced by airlines and a number of companies have emerged in the market with specialized services. PIA had struggled in this area with absolutely outdated equipment with average age of 20-30 years that often resulted in delays and other problems, the report said.

The courier wing of PIA, Speedex, whose infrastructure was scattered over 74 domestic destinations with 320 employees had been closed in November 2020. The total saving from human resource rationalization would be Rs10.3 billion per annum, the report said.

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2020
 
RAWALPINDI: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has set a target to reduce the number of its employees to 7,500-8,000 for 29 aircraft — over half of the total strength — through the Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) and segregation of core and non-core functions, said a PIA management report filed before the Supreme Court.

At present, PIA has 14,500 employees for its fleet of 29 planes compared to 31,000 employees working for a fleet of 329 aircraft of Turkish airlines.

According to the report, excess manpower has been of great concern for the PIA management. The excess workforce with little work to perform continuously engaged themselves in disruptive activities that negatively impacted others employees’ productivity, the management claimed, pointing out that many workers were doing little or no work with the result that others working hard also got de-motivated.

Keeping it in mind, the PIA report said, it was critically important to right-size the workforce and with the approval of federal government, PIA management offe*red VSS to employees on Dec 7, by offering them one-time payment (the VSS process is likely to be concluded within two months).

Courier service with 320 employees shut in November, PIA management tells SC

The Supreme Court was informed that the PIA management had planned to bifurcate its employees into two categories, core and non-core businesses. The PIA had not been able to perform well in its core business so the non-core businesses had been suffering more gravely. Hence, instead of operating as small profit units, they were hemorrhaging costs and heavy losses, further becoming a big liability for the parent company itself, the report stated.

It added that PIA undertook a wide range of non-core business functions comprising food services and technical ground services, repairs and maintenance of aircraft fleet through a large engineering facility, Precision Engineering Complex (PEC), and Speedex courier service.

These areas consumed a great deal of executive and management time and essentially became distractions from the core business that resulted in lack of focus on PIA’s core business, the report said.

The ‘core’ category comprised the marking, human resources, finance, flight services and procurement departments. After reduction of 3,977 workers from non-core areas, PIA would be saving Rs6.1 billion a year, the report revealed.

Besides, the PIA had extensive aviation engineering capability and with some additional capital investment and technical expenditure in MRO, PIA engineering services could be positioned as a separate company that not only provided services to PIA, but also got business from other airlines in the region, the report said.

It was planned that the engineering services be transformed into a separate business unit by entering into an appropriate joint venture with a leading company, the report said. Under this plan, it added, PIA would offer its services not only in Pakistan but also in regions like Africa and Asia where the demand for such services was rapidly growing. The report said it was a high potential area for business expansion through a separate subsidiary company, free from PIA, and therefore the management could focus on the core business.

Infrastructure valuation
According to the management, a separate feasibility/business plan is being prepared to establish PIA engineering services as an independent company by the mid of 2021. The process has already started for tender for valuation of material and infrastructure.

Besides, the report mentioned, PIA was not well positioned to have effective food operations for a number of reasons. According to the management, the flight kitchen has major core competency gaps as little or no qualified workforce is in place. The facilities and catering equipment are old and require significant upgrade involving capital investment. Given these issues, PIA’s food production quality could not be improved beyond a certain level, as this required a total transformation of the food operations and upgrade of core competencies, it said.

The management believed under these circumstances, it made a perfect business sense to either partially or completely outsource the food operations by entering into a joint venture with a leading company in the industry with expertise of large-scale catering services.

While it was planned that PTA’s food operations would be tendered in the second quarter of 2021 to form a joint venture, the tender for valuation of material and infrastructure was already under process, the report said.

PEC being transferred to PAF
It said that Precision Engineering Complex (PEC) being a strategic unit contributed very little towards PIA, therefore, the prime minister had already given an executive order to transfer PEC to Pakistan Air Force.

Also, the Technical Ground Services (TGS) are increasingly being outsourced by airlines and a number of companies have emerged in the market with specialized services. PIA had struggled in this area with absolutely outdated equipment with average age of 20-30 years that often resulted in delays and other problems, the report said.

The courier wing of PIA, Speedex, whose infrastructure was scattered over 74 domestic destinations with 320 employees had been closed in November 2020. The total saving from human resource rationalization would be Rs10.3 billion per annum, the report said.

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2020

Its still double what it should be. Criminal incompetence by the Nooras and even more so by the PPP. PSM and this have cost trillions, trillions that we simply dont have.
 
Govt to shell out Rs5 billion to 2,000 PIA employees taking Voluntary Separation Scheme

The federal government will have to pay Rs5 billion to 2,000 employees of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) who have opted to avail its Voluntary Separation Scheme.

The PIA says the scheme will save Rs2.5 billion annually through savings on salaries and other perks and privileges, resulting in the airline recouping the cost of the scheme within a span of two years.

PIA’s Board had earlier sent a strategic business plan to the federal government recommending PIA reduce its workforce to 7,500 employees, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Institutional Reforms and Austerity Dr Ishrat Hussain was quoted as saying in a report in The News.

Dr Ishrat said the government's Economic Coordination Committee has already approved the VSS. The scheme was offered to PIA employees after the federal government’s approval.

"The PIA Board's plan stated the national carrier has to reduce its employees to up to 258 per aircraft. It also presented plans to exit from routes that are making losses,” Dr Ishrat said.

The aircraft-to-employees ratio of the national airline is far higher than any other airline, PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez was quoted as saying by the publication.

Currently, PIA has around 500 employees per aircraft. The VSS will help PIA save a large amount of money annually because the airline is paying a hefty sum in salaries and other perks and privileges.

Outsourcing services is common among many top airlines in the world, including passenger or cargo reservations systems, gate operations, ground handling and catering, etc.

PIA has been doing all this in-house.

The PIA spokesperson said the national carrier has accrued almost Rs480 billion in debt and liabilities and the amount is increasing daily.

Therefore, the board has proposed that the PIA management ensure operational profitability and the federal government should pay off PIA's legacy loan, or that the government help in restructuring the balance-sheet because all the debts and liabilities are under a sovereign guarantee.

"The volume of the national flag carrier’s debt is so high that PIA itself cannot pay off the loan even if it starts earning profit from its operations”, the spokesperson said.

“The average revenue of PIA is around Rs150 billion, out of which an amount of Rs6 billion is its operational profit.

Even if PIA starts paying its loan from its operational profits, it will take another 100 years to pay off its liabilities. This is why the board has proposed the federal government to play its role in paying off the national airlines debts,” said Hafeez.

This business plan was made by the end of 2018. The PIA management had consulted Idris Jala – the man behind the transformation of Malaysian Airline – for guidance and recommendations.

Jala had recommended conducting route diagnostic labs and enhancing the ancillary revenues of the airline.

The PIA management subsequently enhanced ancillary revenues, whereas the routes in loss have also been identified.

Due to these steps, the PIA revenue was increased and operational cost decreased in 2019, the spokesperson said.

The national flag carrier has almost 14,000 employees. According to the business plan proposed by the PIA board, the number of employees is to be reduced to 7,500.

Currently 2,000 employees have applied for the VSS, out of which around 1,000 employees have already been sent letters.

Similarly, almost 960 employees were dismissed on disciplinary grounds last year while 600 employees retire every year after completing their tenure.

The PIA will now have around 7,500 to 8,000 regular employees and almost 2,200 daily wagers. The reduction in employment size will help reduce the operational cost of the national airlines, the spokesperson said.

https://www.geo.tv/latest/328375-pi...o-pay-rs5b-for-2000-employees-availing-scheme
 
Malaysian authorities on Friday seized a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Boeing-777 at the Kuala Lumpur Airport.

The PIA plane was seized on the orders of a local Malaysian court over the non-payment of aircraft lease dues, sources disclosed.

PIA had leased two aircraft, including the Boeing-777, from a Vietnamese company in 2015.

The plane was seized after passengers had already boarded the aircraft. The aircraft's 18-member staff also become stranded in Kuala Lumpur due to the seizure, and will now quarantine for 14 days as per protocols, the sources said.

Meanwhile, the national flag carrier said that the PIA aircraft has been held back on the orders of a local court in Malaysia which, it argued, has taken a one-sided decision pertaining to a legal dispute between PIA and another party pending in a UK court.

"The passengers are being looked after and alternate arrangements for their travel have been finalised," read a tweet shared by PIA on its official account.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">It is an unacceptable situation and PIA has engaged the support from Government of Pakistan to take up this matter using diplomatic channels</p>— PIA (@Official_PIA) <a href="https://twitter.com/Official_PIA/status/1349985129570185217?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 15, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
KARACHI: A Malaysian court's ruling over which authorities impounded a plane of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) yesterday "would have been different had the PIA's stance been considered", the national carrier's spokesperson said Friday.

Speaking in Geo News programme "Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath", PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan termed the impounding of the plane a "very unique and surprising incidence".

Khan said it was common for payment disputes between two parties to arise and courts to be approached, with international agreements normally stating clearly which laws would govern should a conflict arise in a case.

In the case due to which the PIA plane was impounded in Malaysia, the airline "is contesting the case in the UK but there has been no ruling in this case".

"All of a sudden, [the private company] obtained an ex parte decision from Malaysia — which means that neither was the PIA's viewpoint heard nor was it served any notice — and it's shocking because the PIA operates in Malaysia as a registered organisation, has assets, presence, and registered offices there, and its sales go in their bank accounts," he said.

"We believe that if the PIA's stance had been heard, the decision might not have been what was announced [earlier today]."

The PIA spokesperson explained that the company in 2015 obtained two planes — Boeing 777-200 extended range (ER) planes — via "a lease through tender from the company that has initiated the case against us".

"Before us [the PIA], these planes were with VietJet Air, which has caused confusion that these planes perhaps belonged to Vietnam. However, that's not the case and the company we got them from is Dubai-based."

The PIA representative underlined that the national carrier was making lease payments properly since 2015 but a dispute arose in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent lockdown.

"Some terms [of the lease payments] were not adequate given the current situation and we tried to convince them on those terms. They obviously didn't agree, took the legal course of action, and lodged a case against the PIA in the UK in October 2020. The PIA got a notice against it and our legal team started contesting it."

Khan mentioned that since the next case hearing was scheduled in the UK on January 22, "all of our attention was focused on contesting that case and we were not expecting that they would approach Malaysian court to obtain an order to impound [our] plane".

"This is a radical step. Normally, airlines and leasing companies do not go this far — to take such an extreme action — unless the airline has defaulted or some other conflict arose.

"However, now that this matter has come up and is in the court, it will be resolved through the court and since the incident occurred over the weekend, further action will be taken on Monday."


Khan added that the PIA would contest the case in the Malaysian court.

"A lease has many components, including rent and maintenance reserve, and the more a plane flies, the more the payments are to the maintenance reserve.

"However, since the COVID-19 pandemic grounded the planes, we thought the payments were not justified as there was no plane utilization and the planes weren't aging.

"A dispute arose and we were talking to [the company] about it and we thought that due to coronavirus, there's a force majeure clause — beyond your control or act of God — and conditions change. So we claimed that the COVID [pandemic] is an act of God — such a pandemic occurs maybe once in a 100 years — and we said that that clause should be invoked in these circumstances," he said.

Khan said the issue of lease was not since 12 years — as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Communications, Dr Shahbaz Gill had claimed — "but this plane joined the PIA fleet in 2015 and will leave in 2021 as the lease tenure ends in July 2021".

Khan added that at present, no out-of-court settlement was being considered since the case was being contested in the UK court. "The PIA contacted their commercial team and has voiced regret that this action was neither okay nor should have been taken at this time," he added.

https://www.geo.tv/latest/330127-only-pakistani-politician-who-isnt-nurtured-at-ghq-pm-imran-khan
 
Last edited:
ISLAMABAD: A day after a Pakistan International Airlines plane was impoun*ded by Malaysian authorities due to a British court case over the aircraft’s $14 million lease dispute, Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said on Saturday that the national carrier did not pay the lease due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Talking to reporters in Chak Beli Khan, the aviation minister said that PIA got two aircraft on lease in 2015 but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the airline failed to pay the dues last year.

He said that a case was pending in a United Kingdom’s court and the airline was contesting the case in the UK but there had been no ruling in it yet.

He said that Malaysian court gave the decision without getting PIA’s stance on the issue. “Our lawyers will appear in the UK court on Jan 22 and in Kuala Lumpur court on Jan 24,” he said.


While a PIA press release issued on Saturday said the airline management was taking measures for “contesting in a Malaysian court on an urgent basis for release of the PIA aircraft”, the PIA has no answer as to why it sent the Boeing-777 overseas knowing the fact that it had not paid the lease amount for the past many months and the matter is in litigation.

A senior government official told Dawn that the Foreign Office, the Attorney General for Pakistan and the PIA were assessing the situation for a long-term and amicable solution and their deliberations were not restricted to only getting back the impounded aircraft.

Also, PIA spokesman Abdullah Hafeez told Dawn that the legal team in Pakistan had started the work to file a petition before the Kuala Lumpur court with the help of an attorney in Malaysia. He said that PIA would send its lawyers, if required, to Malaysia to make arguments before the court and assist its lawyer.

He said the legal team had been asked to prepare the case to challenge the interim relief to the other party while seizing the aircraft. The online consultations had been started and they would complete their work by Sunday evening, he added.

The spokesperson said the Malaysian court took an ex-parte decision causing inconvenience to the passengers who had already boarded the plane.

A senior official of PIA told Dawn that the legal team was likely to raise the issue that the case was pending in UK’s court so the Malaysian court would not give any relief to the other party.

Passengers, arrears
The spokesman said PIA was bringing back 172 passengers boarded the impounded aircraft to Islamabad through Emirates and Qatar Airways flights.

He said 118 passengers arrived via Dubai through EK614 at 11pm; whereas 54 passengers would reach Islamabad early on Sunday morning via Qatar Airways flight QR632.

A Reuters report had said according to the order passed by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Thursday, the plaintiff of the case is Peregrine Aviation Charlie Limited and the matter pertains to two jets leased to PIA by Dublin-based AerCap, the world’s largest aircraft lessor, in 2015.

They are part of a portfolio that AerCap sold to Peregrine Aviation Co Ltd, an investment unit of NCB Capital, the brokerage arm of National Commercial Bank SJSC, in 2018.

According to the interim injunction, PIA is restrained from moving two aircraft in its fleet Boeing 777-200ER with serial number 32716 and Boeing 777-200ER with serial number 32717 once they have landed or parked at Kuala Lumpur International Airport until a further hearing on the matter later this month.

Malaysia’s ministry of transport had said in a statement that the aircraft was being held pending legal proceedings set for Jan 24.

In December 2020, the PIA had decided to remove four ATR aircraft due to an “expensive lease” arrangement and returned one of them. Rumours are doing the round that the PIA management also wanted to get rid of A-320s.

The PIA’s fleet comprises 12 Boeing 777s, 11 Airbus A-320s and seven ATRs.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2021
 
PIA provided no food, accommodation after plane seized in Malaysia, say frustrated passengers

  • Passengers coming back from Malaysia pile up complaints against PIA and the Pakistani embassy in Malaysia
  • Two days ago, PIA plane was seized in Malaysia on court orders for non-payment of aircraft lease dues
  • PIA leased two planes, including Boeing-777 aircraft, from a Vietnamese company in 2015

ISLAMABAD: PIA and the Pakistani embassy staff in Malaysia did not cooperate, provided no food and no accommodation, said the Pakistanis stranded in Malaysia after a PIA plane was seized at the Kuala Lumpur airport two days ago. The stranded passengers are now home.

The disgruntled passengers said they slept on the floor of the Kuala Lumpur airport for two days, The News reported Monday.

They reached Islamabad through alternative airlines after the PIA plane was seized. The management of the Islamabad airport did not allow the media to speak to the passengers or take any footage of them.

As many as 118 passengers landed in Islamabad from Kuala Lumpur airport via Dubai, while 54 passengers were brought back to Pakistan via Doha.

On Friday, Malaysian authorities seized a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Boeing-777 at the Kuala Lumpur airport.

The PIA plane was seized on the orders of a local Malaysian court over the non-payment of aircraft lease dues, sources disclosed.

PIA had leased two planes, including the Boeing-777, from a Vietnamese company in 2015.

The plane was seized after passengers were already on board. The aircraft's 18-member staff also became stranded in Kuala Lumpur due to the seizure, and will now quarantine for 14 days as per protocols, the sources said.

https://www.geo.tv/latest/330502-pi...tion-arrangements-says-disgruntled-passengers
 
We were told that PIA was a profitable and professional entity now with the PTI at the helm. What happened?
 
I see that the usual suspects are now scraping the bottom of the barrel in trying to mock PTI or Pakistan by making a mountain a mole hill out of this story.
 
So what is a big deal for an airline ?

My point is that the trolls and opportunists are mocking PTI and/or Pakistan, and are scrapping the bottom of the barrel by doing so. It's reasonable to say it's a big deal for PIA but to extrapolate that in grandiose ways to PTI or Pakistan the way these people seem to be doing is just making a mountain out of a mole hill. The way I have seen some Indians discussing online, you'd think Pakistan has defaulted on all its debts.
 
My point is that the trolls and opportunists are mocking PTI and/or Pakistan, and are scrapping the bottom of the barrel by doing so. It's reasonable to say it's a big deal for PIA but to extrapolate that in grandiose ways to PTI or Pakistan the way these people seem to be doing is just making a mountain out of a mole hill. The way I have seen some Indians discussing online, you'd think Pakistan has defaulted on all its debts.
PIA is owned by pakistan govt?
 
PIA is owned by pakistan govt?

Yes it is.

And getting planes impounded is a VERY big deal. Even bigger deal if the carrier happens to be a state-run airline.

India's Jet Airways had one of its Boeing 777s impounded in Amsterdam for non-payment of dues. The airline itself shut down a few weeks later. That's how serious it is. The aircraft is still there more than a year later.

I hope PIA can get their planes back and flying again.
 
My dads friend who worked as a mechanical engineer for PIA for 3 decades in pakistan and then for Lufthansa and AA in the end for 2-3 years before he retired . He said the service procedures for PIA were nowhere close to the world standard. He said he would avoid traveling on PIA at all costs. I miss the Biryani though.
 
Back
Top