Absence of PIACL top boss in meeting irks NA panel

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Rules of Procedure and Privileges Tuesday expressed annoyance over the absence of chief executive officer (CEO) of the Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Limited (PIACL) and urged that recurrence of such practice should be avoided.

This was held by the committee during a discussion on a question of privilege raised by Abdul Qadir Patel MNA concerning the cancellation of his return ticket from Najaf (Iraq) to Karachi by the PIA officials on 8th August, 2024. Muhammad Afzal MNA chaired the committee meeting. Raising his question of privilege, Patel claimed that the unprofessional attitude of the PIA officials in the whole scheme of thought not only caused him moral stress but also financial loss. He urged that the PIACL management should fix all those responsible for the lapse so as to avoid the recurrence of such incidents. The committee expressed annoyance over non-attendance of the meeting by the PIA chief executive office and urged that not only recurrence of such practices should be avoided in future but also the CEO must ensure his presence in the next meeting to brief the committee on the matter.

Regarding the matter concerning code sharing with other carriers by the PIACL and non-revalidation of Electronic Miscellaneous Documents (EMDs) by the PIACL, the committee pointed out that the parliamentarians were facing immense difficulties due to these issues. The PIA chief commercial officer, who was present in the meeting, shared with the committee that the PIACL was in agreement with Turkish and Ethiopian Airlines for code sharing and assured that the matter regarding revalidation of EMDs will be finalized by the end of the current month. The committee directed the CEO to accelerate his efforts for an early resolution of the issue of EMDs.

The committee members, while drawing attention of the chair towards certain issues of general public due to the unprofessional attitude of officials of Sepco, Hesco, Lesco, SNGPL and SSGCL, urged that the managements of the said companies should be summoned in the next meeting so that all the issues were discussed in detail and resolved.