KARACHI: While briefing the Special Committee meeting on the performance of PIA held at its head office here under the chairmanship of the Convener of the Special Committee, Senator Mushahidullah Khan, the Adviser to the Prime Minister on Aviation Division, Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan said that the government is doing its best to ensure the `effective functioning’ of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).The committee Meeting Held Here in Karachi on Thursday, 6 July.
The Adviser was of the view that the airline needs a `good leadership ‘, which should take concrete steps on emergent basis.
`We want to compete with the other airlines in the world’, Mehtab added.
For that reason, he said, the premier service of the PIA was initiated but it did not prove beneficial, as was planed rather the airlines incurred a loss of Rs. two billion.
Mehtab pointed out that the FIA was conducting inquiry against those who took wrong decisions about the PIA Premier Service. The Premier Service was started with a single aircraft which, Mehtab opined, was the cause of its failure as the customers want to travel at their own convenience and not in accordance with the schedule of the PIA.
He was of the view that `we have learnt the lesson from the past mistakes. Let the PIA should be allowed to do its work, he added. He further stated that the Board of directors (BOD) of the PIA has been changed.
There were also briefings by the Airport Security Force (ASF), Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF), Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and Customs.
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The issue of sitting of a Chinese female with the pilot in the cockpit and the nap by a crew member during flight has been proved and report of these incidents would be submitted to the committee soon. It was pointed out that to ensure that such incidents do not recur, cameras have been installed.
The areas within the plane where narcotics had been hidden have been sealed and in case any smuggler would try to conceal narcotics, the seal would break.
Senator Mushahidullah Khan was of the view that PIA and other organizations should prepare a coordinated strategy so that such incidents should be avoided in future.
He maintained that there should be no dereliction on the part of the PIA employees so that the Airline should retain its past glory.
