APROPOS a report ‘PIA’s free-fall’, published in Dawn’s Sunday magazine Eos on Nov 26, the airline’s management would like to state that the article does not take into account the current situation of PIA which is very promising and certainly not heading towards a free fall.

The airline says that PIA and Dawn are Pakistan’s two key institutions that share a great history together and PIA holds Dawn in high regard based on its high standards in journalism. It is, therefore, important to clarify the factual position and the misunderstandings contained in the article.

According to the PIA clarification, the article incorrectly portrays that the employees being removed by the chairman, Muhammad Irfan Elahi, based on issues relating to him. It claims that since the implementation of PIAC Conversion Act 2016 Mr Elahi has been operating as the non-executive chairman and the management is handling day-to-day operations and taking all decisions. The article mentions the termination of Raheel Ahmed, former head of HR, as an action taken by the chairman, whereas the decision to remove him was taken by the management based on lack of performance.

It further states that some of the incidents mentioned in the article and attributed to Mr Elahi did not take place in his tenure as chairman. For example, a much-debated deal of A-310 aircraft was accomplished in October 2016, and the loss-making Premier Service was started in August 2016. It is to be noted that on both occasions Mr Elahi was not the chairman. Similarly, when the contract of B-777 seats was decided by the board in December 2015 and when later a portion of advance payment was decided by the board, he was not the chairman. It is also to be mentioned that both the above-mentioned cases are under investigation by FIA and therefore offering any comments at this stage will be tantamount to influencing the proceedings.

The clarification states that with a new world class management team at the helm and a commercially focused new board of directors, PIA has begun serious efforts to turn around its performance and return to profitability. The business plan has examined and analysed rigorously each route PIA has been operating or should operate based on its current and future potential. Given the PIA’s cash flow constraints, a key to turning PIA around is to stop the heavy bleeding on an urgent basis. The suspension of the New York route, which could not be turned around to profits in a short period of time, achieves just that. This is prudent and sensible business management. The free fall indeed comes when you continue with situations such as the nearly Rs1.5 billion losses per annum being incurred on the New York route, said the clarification.

Published in Dawn, December 3rd, 2017