PIA's problems

When Ahmed Saeed took over from Sher Afghan as MD of PIA, a lot of hopes were raised. Fond memories of Rafique Saigol, a private enterpreneur,who turned around PIA were rekindled. Saigol replaced Air Marshal Zafar Chaudhry. PIA was in those days one of the top airlines of Asia. Rafique Saigol restored PIA to its former glory, by building the confidence of a disheartened group of employees, shaken by the East Pakistan debacle.
Chaudhry Ahmed Saeed, a novice in aviation, started off badly by selecting a team of advisors, who were part of the problem and not the solution. PIA's corporate corridors were dominated by mediocrity and corruption. Political interference by civil and military regimes had strengthened the hands of a corrupt group of executives, who had eroded the discipline and finances of PIA.
A top heavy incompetent management was involved in an evil nexus between travel and cargo agents, depriving it of vast revenues. Human resources were depleted by a management of mediocre capability. Aircraft were leased at prices almost three times prevailing in the market.
Financial irregularities in technical spare parts purchases and flight kitchen items had assumed alarming proportions. Fudging figures to present profits, where none existed was a standard practice. Unions dominated by sitting regimes had also contributed to PIA's woes.
Ahmed Saeed's kitchen cabinet advised him to ban all unions, cut costs by resorting to wage reduction. What they failed to focus on was revenue generation and a freeze or rollback of revenue pilferage. PIA employees' salaries were only 18% to 19% of total operating costs,( inspite of vast number of employees) which was still below the international aviation industry average of 21% to 23% of total operating costs.
In the first few quarters, this saving contributed to a break-even and then a profit. However, revenues declined due to utilisation of low capacity aircrafts, frequent schedule changes and a few bad deals. The airline instead of resorting to a phased fleet replacement programme, compatible with its revenue generation capacity, plunged itself into higher debts by a mad rush to sell and buy all it could.
There was a wide-scale abuse of discretionary powers in appointments, promotions and recruitments. In some cases the management itself had violated PIA rules so blatantly, that there are no precedents to-date. Seniority rules were disregarded, and those who had the eyes and ears of the chairman could get away with murder.
What the new chairman of PIA needs to note is to shun sycophants. He needs to rid PIA of executives guilty of "conflict of interest", indiscipline and financial irregularities. Perhaps a seasoned foreign origin aviation executive would be the best option.
The government also needs to give him time and freedom to choose a competent team of highly qualified professionals.
Those that sit in PIA's present executive corridors are the biggest drag and impediment for its development. Mediocrity cannot and will not deliver, nor will dead wood of the past. Aviation is a service oriented industry, which should be geared to provide its clients with an affordable, reliable and convenient schedule. Reservation and marketing are areas that need rapid improvements. Maintenance of aircrafts and cabin interior are another weak area, so is operation and traffic.
Workers need to be motivated by a team of honest and highly qualified professionals. The passengers should be treated well,, because without them or the revenue cargo, there can be no profitable and commercially viable airline.