Comment: From glory to crisis — PIA’s rise and fall

1959-1965: Air Marshal Nur Khan served as Chairman PIA. In 1960, Nur Khan flew PIA’s inaugural flight of a Boeing 707-321, symbolizing a new era in PIA’s history.

With Nur Khan at the helm, PIA emerged as a prominent global airline, achieving both operational excellence and profitability. Expanding its international reach, PIA initiated flights to China and established routes to Eruope via Moscow. 1962: Jacqueline Kennedy, the First Lady of the USA, chose to travel with PIA.

Upon concluding the flight, she warmly embraced PIA’s Captain Salehjee at London Heathrow, expressing her satisfaction after a delightful flying experience. 1966: Pierre Cardin, the Italian-born French fashion designer renowned for his avant-garde style and space-age designs, created the uniforms for PIA air hostesses. 1968: Over a million passengers; by 1979, the count had surged to over 3.5 million passengers.

1981: Spanning four continents, 62 cities, with take-offs occurring every six minutes, PIA operated 762 weekly flights, equating to 109 departures per day. PIA provided assistance to Emirates, particularly in terms of management and operational expertise. PIA provided professional training to individuals associated with 41 different airlines and agencies. 2023: The only company in the world with accumulated losses totaling Rs750 billion and assets valued at Rs150 billion. PIA stands out as the only company in the world with annual sales amounting to Rs172 billion and an annual loss of Rs 88 billion.

Roosevelt Hotel: In the heart of Manhattan, 1,025 rooms, an entire city block, Madison Avenue to the west, 46th Street to the north, Vanderbilt Avenue to the east, and 45th Street to the south. Designed by George B. Post & Son with an Italian Renaissance revival-style facade. This prime piece of real estate, among the most costly globally, is owned by PIA. The credit for transforming the Roosevelt Hotel into a liability lies with the PIA management—a case worthy of study. One company, half a dozen unions: pilots, engineers, senior staff, flight crew, and technical staff each have their own union. The airline is the most politicized commercial enterprise. Unionism stands out as a significant contributor to PIA’s multi-billion-rupee financial losses. Two hundred eighty-seven thousand free tickets, leasing fraud, cargo fraud, fraudulent activities in long-term contracts, deceit in spare parts transactions, and annual medical expenses totaling Rs3 billion—these issues persist year after year. Our government must restrict itself to governing.

Our government is into each and every aspect of Pakistani life. Our government buys all the electricity that is generated in Pakistan. Our government runs 10 electricity distribution companies and six electricity generation companies. You want an electricity connection, you have to go to the government. You need a gas connection, you have to go to the government. Our government runs 17 banking entities, seven insurance companies and nine Development Finance Institutions. Our government runs four aviation companies, 23 ports and shipping entities, three trading companies, five chemical companies and 15 engineering entities. The Government of Pakistan also runs ‘promotion and advocacy’ companies.