President Asif Ali Zardari has called for implementation of a wide-ranging reform plan to tone up Pakistan International Airlines by arresting rising liabilities, stemming general decline and converting PIA into a profitable organisation. This he said during a performance review meeting of PIA here at Aiwan-e-Sadr on Friday.
The meeting was attended by Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, Federal Minister for Defence, Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Federal Minister for Finance, Dr Asim Hussain, Federal Minister for Petroleum & Natural Resources, Syed Mehdi Shah, CM Gilgit-Baltistan, Air Marshal (Retd) Khalid Chaudhary, DG Civil Aviation Authority, Captain Nadeem Khan Yousafzai, MD PIA and Dr Najeeb Samie, Managing Director PIA Investments Limited. Secretary General to the President M. Salman Faruqi and Secretaries of Defence and Finance division were also present during the meeting along with other senior officials.
Spokesperson to the president Farhatullah Babar said that the special meeting had been convened in the backdrop of reports about the airline that suggested all was not well with it and called for toning up the organisation. The president said that injecting more finances alone was not the answer. What we need in equal measure is the optimal utilisation of financial, material and human resources as well as finding out of box solutions for renewal the existing fleet.
He said that a reform package was also necessary for safeguarding interests of the organisation and its employees. The president said that timely replacement of the ageing fleet with more modern and economical ones would not only reduce the operational costs but also ensure safety of the passengers.
Welcoming management''s initiative to separate non-core activities from the core business, the president said that such steps were urgently needed to ensure cost effectiveness of the business. The president during the meeting also urged the management to ensure that the passengers'' complaints, if any, are properly addressed and that they are properly facilitated while travelling with PIA.
MD PIA Captain Nadeem Khan Yousafzai briefed the meeting about the organisation and the steps taken to reform the organisation. During later part of the meeting, DG Civil Aviation Authority Air Marshal Khalid Chaudhary (Retd) also briefed the president about performance of CAA.
He informed that to promote aviation industry in Pakistan, a revised National Aviation Policy has been drafted. He said that recently International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) conducted extensive State audit of Pakistan from June 5-to-17, 2011 and graded Pakistan at 82 percent compliance level against the world''s average of 65 percent. He also said that Safety Management System of CAA was recognised as one of the best in the world especially its drive for achievement of Integrated Management System was highly appreciated by ICAO auditors and experts. CAA has also been invited to assist ICAO in several disciplines, he added.
Improvement in Air space management, enhanced capability to design Instruments Fight Procedures, establishment of six new Air Traffic Services routes in Karachi/Lahore FIR (Flight Information Region), newly acquired state-of-the-art air Traffic Management System and Automated Message Handling Systems were amongst the successes of CAA. Khalid Chaudhary said that various initiatives were being taken in the Airport Services Performance side in line with the current best prevalent practices.
Revenue during financial year 2010-11 registered a 6.3 percent increase over the last year and another increase of 4% is envisaged during next year, he said. He said that for the funding of ongoing mega projects, CAA was exploring the options of financing Rs 7.1 billion. The president was also briefed about progress on new Benazir Bhutto International Airport Islamabad. He called for early completion of the project.-PR