KARACHI: Paving the way for its privatisation, the Pakistan International Airlines Corporation has been converted into a company.

Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, PIA Chairman Nasser N. S. Jaffer said the PIAC had been converted into a company, but for its employees the employment conditions would remain unchanged.

He said all stakeholders, employees of every grade and category stood transferred to the company, PIACL, with the same designation and on the same terms and conditions as they held in PIAC.

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Mr Jaffer said the PIAC had been converted through Ordinance No XVII dated Dec 4 from a statutory corporation into a company governed by the Companies Ordinance, 1984. The new entity is called Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Limited (PIACL).

He said through the ordinance, the PIACL had succeeded to all the assets, liabilities, duties and obligations of 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 PIAC.

He said all lenders (foreign and local, fleet and non fleet) and other creditors of PIAC shall continue to enjoy from 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 PIACL.

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

“All proceedings of every description and nature whatsoever by or against or relating to PIAC pending on the date of conversion, in any court, tribunal, or other authority shall be continued, defended, prosecuted and enforced by or against or relating to PIACL in the same manner and to the same extent as they would have been continued, defended, prosecuted and enforced by or against or relating to PIAC, and the same shall not abate, be discontinued, prejudiced or otherwise affected by the conversion.”

The press conference was delayed by around an hour after a large number of employees gathered at the PIA head office and held a demonstration against the government’s plan to privatise the airline.

Secretary General of the People’s Unity of PIA Employees Mohammad Ashraf criticised the move and termed it the government’s first step towards privatisation of the airline.

He said the workers would not allow the government or the PIA management’s conspiracy to succeed and would soon launch a joint struggle along with various labour unions operating in the airlines against it.

Published in Dawn, December 7th, 2015