KARACHI, Sept 19: The chairman of the Pakistan International Airlines, Lt- Gen Hamid Nawaz (retd), has said PIA has been brought out from a bottomless pit and is well on the way to consolidation.

He said following sustained profitability during the past one year PIA had decided to embark upon an ambitious plan of fleet replacement. PIA would induct aircraft based on new technology into its fleet on a regular basis in the next decade in the two segments (long haul and regional).

He was briefing journalists after performing the inauguration ceremony of the Business Class Lounge + Plus here at the Jinnah Terminal of Quaid-i-Azam International Airport on Thursday. Others present on the occasion were Acting Managing Director Khurshid Anwar and the chief of the Civil Aviation Authority, Air Marshal Aliuddin.

He said privatization of the national airline was a government decision which could fetch good offer only if it was a profitable organization. But now since there had been a turnaround, one would have to rethink the decision about PIA’s privatization as it provided Haj flights on no-loss no-profit basis and served Gilgit and other northren areas. All this private-sector airlines could not afford to do.

Referring to facilities extended by PIA to its passengers, Gen Nawaz, who is also the defence secretary, said in addition to improved inflight entertainment programmes a facility had been extended to business-class passengers travelling without baggage whereby boarding cards were generated on just a phone call and passengers could report till minus 15 minutes of STD. Likewise, he said, passengers could obtain their boarding cards from the booking offices from all provincial capitals 72 hours in advance for domestic flights and report directly at the departure gates.

“Passengers returning within the next 72 hours can obtain their return boarding cards when travelling without baggage and holding confirmed return booking,” he added.

Responding to questions, Gen Nawaz said as a first step PIA had outsourced its finance department to three credible institutions by transferring internal audit to Ferguson, bank reconciliation statement to Citibank, and gratuity, pension and provident fund matters of employees to Fords Hords.

He said flight kitchen and the transport departments were also on the cards and these would be outsourced after removal of technical difficulties which were being dealt with.

Regarding retrenchment, the PIA chief said to improve conditions in PIA, which till recently had been a sinking ship, “rightsizing” in the airline had become unavoidable. Those who could not meet modern requirements and had become redundant had to go. “Since we have taken over the responsibility, about 1,000 employees have already retired due to age factor and service period and their replacement has not been inducted.”

Besides, PIA was seized with a new downsizing scheme keeping in view what type of staff would be needed for the new aircraft being inducted in the next decade.

Gen Nawaz said the decision had been taken to replace the old fleet by inducting new aircraft from the family of Boeing 777 and A-310. The fleet replacement plan would be completed by 2010.

“Fleet renewal is a vital and inescapable requirement in the contemporary environment as PIA has not been able to induct any new aircraft since 1991, and the airline’s current fleet’s average age is about 23 years as the last new type of aircraft had been inducted in 1991.

Answering another question, he said to ensure transparency a six-member aircraft acquisition committee had been constituted, and in the agreement a clause would be inserted to certify that no kickback/commissions had been paid to anyone at any stage.

PIA was operating a weekly flight for Kabul.