RECORDER REPORT
ISLAMABAD: Advisor to Prime Minister on Aviation Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan has said that financial restructuring strategy of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will help the national flag carrier attain a break-even point by 2020 and the incumbent government is working on separating core and non-core businesses.
He expressed these views during a press briefing here on Tuesday. Replying to a question on privatisation plan of PIA, he said the government has decided to separate core and non-core businesses and it is more of a business restructuring. He said, “Working on PIA is limited separation of operational side to other business as per plan approved by the Parliament.”
As far as Roosevelt Hotel, New York, is concerned, he said, the hotel is government’s property and it will decide whether to privatize it or not at proper time. But, he sarcastically said that the PIA is incurring a loss worth a hotel every month.
Replying to another question with respect to suspended German CEO Bernd Hildenbrand, Mehtab said the FIA is taking up the matter and the PIA management is following up the case too; however, the focus is on the revival of PIA.
He also instructed the management to revise the discount policy for journalists in fares.
He further said the management will ensure that the PIA would not terminate any employee rather it would train them and utilize their expertise in a better manner. He said that the PIA has almost 14,000 regular employees and almost 4,000 employees are on contractual basis, altogether they make PIA a strong one.
About a misunderstanding regarding tickets issuing to the parliamentarians free of cost, Mehtab said that the PIA doesn’t provide any free ticket to them as the government pays for their tickets. The government gives major portion of business to the PIA, he pointed out.
Earlier, sharing his views at an event on “PIA Business Transformation Journey & Talent Development Programme,” he said that PIA is enhancing its engineering capacity at Islamabad. The PIA now has additional engineering capacity to perform Check ‘A’ for A320 aircraft at Islamabad. The facility was previously available at Karachi engineering base. A ceremony was held at Islamabad airport on completion of ‘A’ check on A320 aircraft.
Mehtab said that that PIA Engineering Division has earned more than Rs1 billion in a year’s time by providing ‘A’ check to aircraft of other airlines. He said that this engineering capability enhancing programme is a part of PIA’s five-year business plan to reduce losses and be at par with the leading airlines of the world.
Mehtab said that the PIA is also in the process to acquire wide-body aircraft on dry lease rather than having aircraft on wet lease. He also inspected the A320 aircraft and directed the officials to maintain the cleanliness of aircraft cabin and seats to provide best services to passengers.
While appreciating the performance of engineering personnel, he said the division’s target is to earn nearly Rs1.4 billion during 2017- 2018 and this shows their commitment and dedication for the betterment of the airline.
He said the officers and staff of Engineering Division will be offered incentive packages. He further announced that new Islamabad International Airport will be inaugurated by end of April.
Earlier, Chief Operating Officer PIA Zia Qureshi addressing the “PIA Business Transformation Journey & Talent Development Program” said that the PIA has a five-year long strategic plan for financial restructuring of national flag carrier. He said that Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi-led cabinet also endorsed the financial revival plan of the PIA.
He said that media has not been giving true picture of PIA’s ongoing transformation into a profitable entity in last decade.
He said the PIA has registered 20 to 30 percent increase in sales in last few months and is meeting the target set for 2018 as mentioned in strategic plan. “We review our performance weekly and monthly to turn the state-owned entity into a profitable entity,” he added.
“Our business plan is to increase Rs96 billion revenue in 2017 to Rs210 billion in 2022,” he said.
President and CEO PIA, Musharraf Rasool Cyan, said that on the instructions of Advisor to Prime Minister on Aviation, Mehtab Ahmed Khan, the PIA engineering department was assigned the task of having ‘A’ check capability at Islamabad and Lahore stations after Karachi. The PIA engineering department within a short span of time acquired the capability at Islamabad and soon will have the same at Lahore. He said that with the signs of positive results, the PIA will no doubt celebrate its turnaround in the near future.
The ceremony was also attended by Chairman PIA Irfan Ellahi, Chief Technical Officer PIA Amir Ali and other senior officials of the PIA and Civil Aviation Authority.
