I RECENTLY returned to the UK from Pakistan, using PIA on international and domestic flights.

I consider myself a patriotic Pakistani and it pains me a great deal to say that the standard of PIA flights seems pathetic. The planes appear to be falling apart while the in-flight entertainment system was in shambles. No headphones were provided. My wife suffered food poisoning twice after the flights. Our luggage arrived a day late.

Perhaps most galling, was the fact that out of four PIA flights, three were delayed or rescheduled. In fact for the domestic Multan to Islamabad flight which was due to leave at 8pm was rescheduled for 2pm. Delays one can understand, but a flight that is re-scheduled to be six hours early! And then this flight too ended up leaving late at 5PM. To add insult to injury, our tickets were exorbitantly expensive.

Passengers treated like this will of course vote with their feet and avoid the national carrier. I am told the general manager of PIA flight services recently sent a stern circular to employees threatening that they would be sacked if found overweight! PIAshould know that I am not interested in the cabin crew’s weight, only the quality of their service.

Dr Musa Sami

Leicester, United Kingdom

Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2019