Those who have read the March 2004 issue of Airline Business would be shocked to learn of the recipe for disaster, that PIA's ambitious fleet plan, will incur on this unfortunate airline.
PIA has just bought an expensive overpriced Boeing 777, on terms and conditions, which make the payment of instalments, a very difficult task to achieve from its own revenue receipts.
The Airbus 310, which it plans to procure on a ten-year lease, have reportedly been found to have major structural defects.
The second of the six A310, that was to be inducted in January this year, is in such a bad state, that it cannot retain pressurised air, within the fuselage, even on ground.
PIA now plans to replace seven Boeing 737s, an aircraft ideal for use on short hop regional and domestic routes, with either ATRs or Bombardier aircrafts.
The B737 is the aircraft most widely used by profitable low cost airlines like Ryan Air, Malaysia's Air Asia etc, and is an ideal replacement of F-27.
Meanwhile, Delta's new chief executive Gerald Grinstein has announced plans to sell two of Boeing 777-200s it was scheduled to take in 2005 and would convert its three more 777s due in 2006 for delivery into positions for other unspecified Boeing models.
The B777, which is a superb machine, has not been a commercial success for Boeing.
Its after-sales service and sparepart cost will, therefore, be sky high, and so will be the per seat to total operating cost. Singapore Airlines has also gone for A340-500s and the first 14,077 km flight from Singapore to L.A took 14 hours and 42 minutes.
The return trip took a record 18 hours, 30 minutes.
PIA management's incompetence can be gauged from the fact, that while it decided to buy this aircraft almost a year ago, its training programme was delayed so much, that it now has to hire expatriate pilots to fly these planes, further upping the operating cost.
It is in the meanwhile operating its 777s (seat configuration 333) on high density routes like Islamabad-London, Lahore-London, where seats have been sold for 433 seater B747-300s.
The net result is that on every flight 100 confirmed passengers are denied boarding and then accommodated on A310 extra sections.
The way things are been run on an adhoc basis, the future of PIA looks very bleak.
Those interested to know facts, should look up the prestigious D&B website (Dunn and Bradlee) downgrading of PIA as "Fairly High Risk" investment.
At the end of the day the GOP will have to foot the bill to keep PIA flying, although the new livery of its fleet has a flag painted on its tail which is not parquet green, the colour of our national flag.
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