PIA needs to do more

It comes as good news that the European Union has lifted the ban it had imposed some time ago on our national carrier PIA's flights. The news is not good enough, though, to call for celebration. The fact of the matter is that the EU had blacklisted the airline not because of any issues extraneous to the airline's affairs, but on account of safety concerns.
The main issues involved maintenance levels and age of some aircraft, especially Boeing 747s and Airbus 310s. These planes did not meet airworthiness standards, and hence posed safety risks to passengers as well as airports where they landed - something for which there can no acceptable excuse.
Thanks to the EU intervention, PIA authorities have now done the needful vis-à-vis safety questions. The EU Transport Commissioner, Jacques Barrot, issued a statement in Brussels on Wednesday saying when airlines take "rapid and sound corrective action" to comply with safety standards, they can be quickly withdrawn from the list of banned airlines.
It is a matter of satisfaction that the EU has removed our national carrier from its blacklisted airlines, thereby restoring its international reputation; and, more importantly, passenger confidence. Still, it is sad that the PIA management took the necessary corrective action only when faced with punitive measures, not of its own accord.
It is hardly surprising if the same pattern of behaviour has been on display with regard to domestic flights. A particularly appalling example is that of Fokker aircraft. It may be recalled that in May 2005 the then parliamentary secretary for defence had expressed concern about the aircraft's dependability on the floor of the National Assembly.
Pointing out that most of those planes had logged over 200,000 hours of flights as against the recommended 90,000 hours, he had called for the grounding of the Fokker fleet. But no one took heed, until a year later in July 2006 a Fokker crashed near Multan, killing all 45 passengers and crew aboard.
Notably, that was the second Fokker crash in three years' time, the earlier one having taken place in February 2003 killing the chief of the air staff, his wife and 15 senior air force officials. Yet even after the Multan crash the authorities refused to ground the aged aircraft, and agreed to make amends only in the face of unsubsiding public outcry.
The point of it all is that the PIA management must not become complacent with the removal of the EU ban. It must take stock of the reasons behind the deterioration that has beset the airline's maintenance standards over the years so as to find satisfactory solutions for the problem.
There seems to be truth in the reports that say a large number of aeronautical engineers and technicians have left PIA to take up more lucrative jobs in the Gulf region. It would surely be unrealistic for such people to expect the same kind of remunerations in Pakistan, but what the airline is willing to pay them should be commensurate with better standards of service within PIA itself.
What is at stake is not only the commercial interest of the airline but the well-being of its captive market of Pakistani passengers, both inside and outside the country: The former because they hardly have any choices and the latter because the sight of the national carrier evokes patriotic sentiments in them.
One can only hope PIA will exhibit the same kind of "rapid and corrective action" with regard to the planes flying on domestic routes that it has displayed in its efforts to comply with international safety standards in order to escape from the EU blacklist.