Revisiting the past glory of PIA

LAHORE: Languishing under a heavy debt of Rs279 billion till end September 2014, the cash-strapped Pakistan International Airlines (PIA)’s 762 weekly flights used to take off or land every six minutes in 62 cities across four continents of the world- some 33 years ago- in 1981, writes Sabir Shah.
Those were the golden days when 44 airlines and agencies used to send their crews for training to PIA, which had hired famous national and international dress designers like Feroze Cowasji, Pierre Cardin and Sir Hardy Amies for designing of the uniforms worn by its flight attendants.
The past glory of PIA can be gauged from one of its 1981 advertisements appearing in local Press.PIA advertisement from 1981 reads: “A PIA aircraft now takes-off or lands every 6 minutes on its world-wide network.”
The remaining content of the afore-cited advertisement reads: “A schedule of PIA’s 762 flights a week on 62 cities across four continents - takes off or lands every six minutes round the clock.”
According to the 1981 advertisement under review, PIA used to possess a fleet of B747s, DC-10s, A-300s and 707 aircraft till 1981 at least; and there used to be 109 departures per day.The advertisement had further read: “It is these standards that have attracted 44 airlines and agencies to send their personnel to PIA for training. PIA in its proper perspective is not only the national flag carrier, but also an airline competitors regard all over the world with high esteem.”
Another PIA advertisement from 1979 had revealed that the national carrier had almost 3.5 million passengers every year and the average ticket preparation time about 36 years ago had dropped to 6.5 minutes.
In November 1978, the PIA baggage mishandling claims did not exceed 2 per 10,000 passengers flown.A PIA advertisement from December 1968, celebrating decade of success enjoyed by the airline from 1958 to 1968, had stated: “In 1958, about two hundred passengers used to travel by PIA. In 1968, the number had soared to over a million passengers.”
An advertisement from 1969 had acknowledged the role played by skillful PIA aircraft engineers in establishing airline’s high standard 97.7 percent flights punctuality rate.Having borne a loss of Rs3.31 billion during the last five years, PIA’s total assets had rested at around Rs126 billion last year in 2014, shows its third quarterly Annual Report. It had employed nearly 19,000 people as of July 2014.
Contrary to its fabulous past, PIA operates scheduled services to 23 domestic destinations and only 30 international destinations in 27 countries through a feeble fleet of 31 airplanes. Listed on the country’s stock exchanges, the PIA share is today functioning below its par value for the last 18 months or so—-amidst reports of privatisation.
(Sources/References: PIA website, Abbas Ali Collection and History of PIA, Shahzad Rabbani Law Associates and archives of local media houses)Having flown its inaugural flight between Karachi and London via Cairo on February 1, 1955, PIA had helped establish the Emirates Airlines in the mid-1980s by leasing two of its airplanes, the Airbus A300 and Boeing 737, besides being instrumental in providing technical and administrative assistance to the new carrier.
It is imperative to note that on April 29, 1964, PIA became the first non-communist airline to operate a service to the Chinese city of Shanghai, and to fly between Asia and Europe via Moscow.
The PIA website has made some more claims, which have been proved absolutely correct by a research conducted the Jang Group and Geo Television Network, lends further credence to the common belief that the once-promising national airline has deteriorated on all fronts during the last three decades or so.
Here follow the PIA claims:PIA was the first airline to introduce an alternative route to China over the mighty Karakoram Mountains.It was the first airline from an Asian land country and the first airline from a Muslim country to fly the famous American aircraft called the Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation.
It was the first Asian airline to operate a jet aircraft and induct the new technology— Boeing 737-300 aircraft— besides being the first in Asia to be granted maintenance approval by the US Federal Aviation Administration and the Air Registration Board, predecessor of the British Civil Aviation Authority.
It was the first airline in South Asia to introduce auto-ticketing facility and to show in-flight movies on international routes. PIA was the first airline in the world to fly to Tashkent, capital of the newly independent state of Uzbekistan. It was the first Asian airline to start flights to Oslo, the capital of Norway.
It was the first airline in the world to induct Boeing 777-200LR, the world’s longest range commercial airliner. It was the first airline in South Asia to offer the facility of seat reservation through mobile phone.