LAHORE: Despite assurance by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that the PIA will not be privatised, its employees have decided not to let it function under its new structure of the Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Limited (PIACL).

“The employees have decided not to let the meeting of the Board of Directors, which is scheduled for this week in Karachi, take place till the withdrawal of the PIACL,” a member of the PIA union told Dawn on Sunday.

He said the PIACL was a step towards privatisation and its employees would not allow either the reconstitution of the board or its functioning under the new structure.

On Dec 4, the PIAC (Pakistan International Airlines Corporation) was converted into a company (PIACL) through a presidential ordinance.

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The PIA management says the employment conditions will remain unchanged despite its conversion from a statutory corporation into a company governed by the Companies Ordinance 1984. Through the ordinance, the PIACL has got the assets, liabilities, duties and obligations of the PIAC.

Similarly, the PIACL is now entitled to the benefit of all notifications, licences, permissions, sanctions, authorisations, concessions, decrees, international air service authorisations, agreements, orders and benefits issued or granted to the PIAC. All lenders (foreign and local, fleet and non fleet) and other creditors of the PIAC shall continue to enjoy from the PIACL the same contractual benefits and protections that they earlier enjoyed. All guarantees given by the federal government to secure PIAC’s obligations will now continue so as to secure the obligations of the PIACL.

“The shareholders of the PIACL shall own and hold the same number of shares with the same privileges as they owned and held in the PIAC immediately prior to the conversion.”

The prime minister after a meeting with the representatives of the PIA employees -- Joint Action Committee (JAC) -- had assured them that the national flag carrier would not be privatised. He constituted a committee headed by his special assistant on aviation Shujaat Azeem to come up with suggestions for its revival without going for an option of privatisation.

A source in the JAC told Dawn that it would give its suggestions in the committee meetings but the employees could not be satisfied till the ordinance of the PIACL was withdrawn as it was a step towards privatisation. “Our protest will continue as long as government’s unambiguous stance persists,” he said.

Meanwhile, the PIA management has requested its union leaders to call off their protest as the “company’s employees” have been assured that their rights are fully protected in the new structure of the PIACL.

According to the spokesman, in order to remove the reservations of PIA’s employees on the presidential ordinance and to propose steps for improving the performance of the PIA, a committee has been constituted which shall submit its report within two weeks. “Shujaat Azeem has excused himself from heading this committee,” he clarified.

“The new company formed under the Ordinance shall be more powerful to take decisions and protect the interest of employees. The government’s control over the management will now be considerably reduced,” he added.

The spokesman further said to give boost to the PIACL operations, the government would look for strategic partners to jointly pool the resources and run the affairs of the company while retaining the majority shares. However, the privatisation of PIA was not being considered and neither would it be if PIA continued to show improvement.

“Any disruption in flight schedule will not only cause huge losses to the national airlines and create inconvenience for travelers but also bring a bad name to the company,” he said.

Published in Dawn, December 21st, 2015