PIA IS running on fumes, both literally and figuratively. The debt-ridden national carrier was forced to cancel 14 domestic flights and delay four others for hours on Monday after Pakistan State Oil refused to provide it with any more fuel until it settled its past dues. Passengers and planes had to be grounded as the airline’s management scrambled to figure out how to squeeze PSO for more concessions despite already running a multibillion-rupee overdraft with the state oil marketing giant. However, PSO, which itself is facing a major liquidity crisis as receivables crossed a record Rs755bn the same day, seems to be running thin on patience: PIA’s negotiations with the entity are said to have continued till late in the night. As such, the situation no longer seems conducive for PIA to continue operating as it has for years, and it appears that the airline is finally starting to crash and burn amidst general hesitancy from top decision-makers regarding its fate.

The writing has been on the wall for a while now: as Pakistan sinks under the weight of its burgeoning debt, it cannot continue to maintain failing entities like PIA without incurring massive opportunity costs. The airline is terribly run, grossly overstaffed and has been consistently ranked among the worst airlines both internationally and domestically. It has already burnt countless billions in pursuit of ‘revitalisation’ plans that have turned out to be wild goose chases. Instead of shovelling billions more into it each month from taxpayers’ money, it is time to put it out of its misery and privatise it. Its thousands of employees, most of whom have a job only because our government is willing to spend public funds recklessly for their upkeep, will agitate and protest, but the government needs to stand firm on the privatisation option. We cannot continue wasting the nation’s precious resources on white elephants while ordinary people are struggling to eat.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2023