THE age-old ‘mantra’ is being used again — PIA has its ninth air marshal. An air marshal no doubt excels in many ways. But running an airline is a different cup of tea.

Cut-throat competition, the intricacies of tariffs and ticketing, manoeuvring on the fringes of International Civil Organisation and International Air Transport Association regulations to gain an edge, take a while to grasp.

PIA was always over-staffed. It was literally inundated with ‘jialas’ in the 1970s. But it was still in profit.

Hard to believe but even in its heyday, PIA had a poor safety record: almost one fatal accident every year. The mother of all accidents being at Cairo in 1965.Yet it ran profitably.

The downfall began when Gen Ziaul Haq ordered the airline ‘dry’. It lost most of its international passengers overnight. Airlines like Etihad and Emirates were elated.

These were PIA’s competitors from countries — as Muslim as Pakistan — but they continued to serve without restrictions. An international airline cannot impose restrictions on passengers coming from every corner of the world and conforming to every possible religion, caste or creed.

However, PIA kept competing, albeit with one hand tied. The real crunch came when air marshals found their way into the CAA and an ‘open skies’ policy cropped up. Why? No one has ever understood. There was no hope for PIA after that.

‘Privatisation’ or declaration of ‘bankruptcy’ is not the answer. PIA can be turned around simply by serving its passengers without restrictions, as PIA always did. We should stop aping Saudia.

We should get rid of the ‘open skies’ policy — post haste. PIA should be handed over to a competent executive from within the airline with 20 or 30 years’ service. It should not be difficult to find one.

We don’t need new aircraft or fancy logos and we don’t need an air marshal, for everyone is not Nur Khan.

Capt Afaq Rizvi

Karachi

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2019