If there is one thing the national carrier could make a career of, it is ‘how not to do it’. Efficiency, courteousness, reliability and in-flight care all tend to be of standards that are the opposite of what passengers have a right to expect. Even so, PIA continues to plumb new depths of absurdities. It recently emerged that last month, a Boeing 777 aircraft flying from Karachi to Madina was overbooked in violation of all rules, safety standards, and even basic sense. Seven passengers had to travel whilst standing. Excepting the cockpit, the aircraft had a seating capacity of 409; instead, it carried 416 persons. Amazingly, there is room in this story to get more bizarre. The extra passengers carried handwritten boarding passes; the senior purser claims that she told the pilot about the situation but that he told her to ‘adjust’; the pilot maintains that he only found out after the plane was in the air — and he did not return to offload, as protocol required, because that would not have been in the airline’s interest.

And yet, it could be said that it is all of a piece as far as PIA is concerned. This is the airline, after all, that not too long ago allowed the sacrifice of a black goat on the tarmac, at the steps of its aircraft, in a bid to ward off evil spirits. Meanwhile, given the situation prevailing on PK-743 last month, as one Twitter user mulled, the airline might as well consider the merits of jettisoning the meal carts in favour of stalls selling paan. Or, perhaps, offer special discounts for passengers willing to travel without a seat, thus formalising the flouting of rules and safety requirements. Customers put their lives in the airline’s hands; if PIA is blissfully unconcerned about its responsibilities, as would appear to be the case, there should be no confusion about it. Certainly, it has not much to lose in terms of its reputation.

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2017