Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday ordered fast track major reforms in Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to decommission the national flag carrier.
Presiding over a meeting on airline affairs, Mr. Khan said, "The revival of national institutions like PIA will require transparent use of available resources and both use of administrative resources."
He called for a comprehensive reform strategy and for making planned changes on a priority basis.
The loss-making national carrier has struggled for decades to emerge from the crisis, despite the occasional introduction of several aircraft and the incorporation of various modifications.
Aviation experts believe that the country's poor open skies policy has led to poor airline conditions, poor Gulf Airlines services, and business losses. After the launch of CPEC, the entry of Eastern Airlines, including Chinese airlines, caused further business losses.
Ending crises, meanwhile, have lowered employee motivation.
Arriving in Karachi from a PIA plane crash last month, it had severely damaged its reputation by deteriorating flight safety standards.
PIA's balance sheet as of now shows an aggregated loss of Rs 434 billion, while it's all out liabilities, barring credits, have ascended to Rs 247 billion against resources of Rs 103 billion.
The restructuring of the airline has been on the agenda of the PTI government since it came to power in 2018. One of the first steps taken by the present government in this regard was the appointment of Air Vice Marshal Arshad Malik as the CEO of the airline in 2018.
The prime minister was told by airline officials that last year saw an improvement, including a 46 percent increase in passenger revenue, an 11 percent increase in freight revenue, a 43 percent increase from the engineering department, and an improvement in revenue from UN charter flights. I have improved. He claimed further spending cuts.
Officials at the meeting argued that the stage was now set for "long-term course reform", but warned that this would require complex and deep organizational change. He proposed a review of the National Aviation Policy 2015 and the preparation and implementation of a five-year strategic business plan.
Repeated changes in top management, political interference, insufficient financial support from the government, and over-staffing in non-core areas were identified as other problem areas.
Mr. Khan said getting government institutions back on track was one of his government's priorities as their losses were ultimately borne by taxpayers. 'Therefore, it is important to speed up the reform process,' he said.
The government has begun implementing a reform plan for state-owned enterprises. The reorganization of the railways was approved last week.
0 Comments