THIS is with reference to the report “PIA sale stalls as lone bid ‘too low to consider’” (Nov 1). The government functionaries and the relevant ministry leading the privatisation process had credible cons-ultants facilitating them. However, the whole activity has raised grave concerns, and has tarnished the overall credibility of the process. It appears that the initiative was not properly researched, affecting not just the privatisation process, but also the reputation of the country.

PIA is surely in a shambles as it is a loss-making state-owned enterprise (SOE) that is highly unionised, overstaffed and leveraged, with merely a few airworthy aircraft in the fleet. With inefficiency running across the board, it has lost several lucrative international destina- tions as well. The litany of woes simply goes on and on.

The poor outcome of the privatisation process will surely put a dent to all activities that were to follow with respect to the many other loss-making SOEs that have been shortlisted for privatisation. The closest analogy that comes to one’s mind is that of a shop manager, who, while trying to attract new customers/buyers, ends up losing all the potential buyers who ever showed an interest. Therefore, the ones who led the process should be asked to explain what went wrong.

As for the loss-making PIA, it should have been privatised a long time ago. The notion that the national carrier should be controlled by the government does not carry much weight. The notion is impractical, and, yet, successive gover-nments in the past have been swayed by this flawed rhetoric of retaining a national carrier despite ever-increasing losses.

The British Airways, which was once a loss-making entity, was privatised in February 2004. Air India, with losses estimated at $9.5 billion, was privatised in 2020. These are relevant examples for our decision-makers to consider. It is time to go for total liquidation rather than trying to shed 60 per cent stakes.

One can only hope that the process of privatisation will be revisited by the authorities, and that it will be dealt with professionally for a positive outcome.

Sheikh Taimur Nawaz
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2024