Amir Hayat steps down as PIA Holding CEO

KARACHI: Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Muhammad Amir Hayat has stepped down as chief executive officer (CEO) of PIA Holding Company Limited (PIAHCL), effective December 9, 2024.

The listed company announced this development in a notice to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday. It said that upon completion of AVM Hayat’s deputation tenure from the Pakistan Air Force to Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Limited (PIACL) and PIAHCL, “Hayat has ceased to be [CEO] of PIAHCL”.

PIAHCL is a public limited company established to manage specific assets, liabilities and subsidiaries of PIACL. This development follows the appointment of Khurram Mushtaq as the acting CEO of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) by its Board of Directors. Mushtaq’s appointment comes as the airline prepares to resume flights to Europe after a safety ban was lifted.

AVM Amir Hayat was appointed CEO of PIA last year for a one-year term as the previous government had planned to privatise the loss-making airline. PIA, burdened with hundreds of billions of rupees in accumulated losses and arrears, remains a critical focus for the country’s economic reforms.

The privatisation process has faced setbacks. The government had offered a stake of between 51 per cent and 100 per cent in the airline, in line with reform demands from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which has a $7 billion, 37-month bailout program in progress with Pakistan.

Despite the offer, the process attracted only a single bid from Blue World Consortium, proposing Rs10 billion for a 60 per cent stake in PIA. This fell significantly short of the Privatisation Commission’s minimum price of Rs85 billion, leading the government to reject the bid and plan a fresh round of privatisation efforts.