PM Abbasi rejects 40-page turnaround plan for PIA
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ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet on Wednesday trashed a ‘turnaround plan’ for Pakistan International Airlines Corporation (PIAC).
The cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi held a detailed discussion on how the national flag carrier can stand on its own feet.
An insider who attended the meeting told Dawn that senior officials of the PIAC, who had been tasked by the prime minister to prepare a comprehensive turnaround plan for the crippling national flag carrier, came up in the meeting with a 40-page plan that took three months for completion.
However, the prime minister and his cabinet rejected the plan and gave a tough time to the PIAC team by raising objections on the plan. “I do not want 40-page plan, give a brief plan on four to five pages as to how we can rescue the national flag carrier,” the prime minister, who himself has experience of running an airline, said.
The prime minister refused to grant any financial package to the PIAC in future unless its management comes up with a clear and effective plan.
“I will not give even a single penny if you people do not tell me how much amount to be required on the first, second, third and fourth year and what progress is expected year wise,” he added.
Later, the meeting decided to form a special committee to fine-tune the turnaround plan prepared by the PIAC management.
Published in Dawn, November 2nd, 2017
