PM’s adviser summons embattled DG CAA as crisis worsens

ISLAMABAD: As revolt has spread in Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) against its Director General Air Marshal (R) Asim Suleman, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Aviation Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan is likely to decide his fate today (Monday).

“I have called the Director General CAA today in my office to discuss the issue,” Sardar Mehtab confirmed while speaking to The News on Sunday. The entire senior management of PCAA has expressed no confidence in the Director General over his alleged abusive behaviour and on Sunday even his Personal Staff Officer has decided to quit, according to a letter available with The News.

Mehtab termed the situation “very unfortunate” and said the Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was also aware of the crisis. “It has never happened in past and it should have not happened,” Mehtab said.

Earlier the Pakistan Air Traffic Controllers Guild (PATCG) also joined hand with the senior management of PCAA in support of their call to remove DG from his office. In a letter written by its President Muhammad Javed Hameed, PATCG also complained about the behaviour of the Director General CAA and extended full support to calls for his ouster.

In another letter, PSO to DG Tashfeen Ashraf also asked his boss to relieve him from his current job. “The current situation where my peers have expressed their grievances against you has put me between a rock and a hard place, whereby, exercising my allegiance has put me at an extremely awkward juncture,” he wrote in his letter.

Earlier Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi also took notice of the agitation in CAA in a meeting on Saturday attended by Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan, Secretary Aviation Irfan Elahi and senior officials of the CAA and the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).

The crisis started when in an unprecedented move, almost the entire senior management of Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) revolted against Air Marshal (Retd.) Asim Suleiman for his alleged abusive behavior calling him “mentally” unfit for the job. In a letter written to the Secretary Aviation all the regular deputy director generals and directors have complained that they are being treated in “humiliating and abusive” manner so they will not offer any support to the Director General. PCAA not only manages all airports of the country but also monitors and regulates all civil aviation activities inside Pakistan. When contacted for his version Air Marshal (Retd) Asim Suleiman had claimed that the officers were only reprimanded to improve their performance. “I have never asked for anything personal from these officers. All I want from them is to work honestly for the authority and for the country,” the DG Civil Aviation had told The News.