LAHORE - PIA employees' union leaders have threatened to stop flight operation if acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is chosen from amongst the blue-eyed of sacked airline head Musharraf Rasool Cyan. Peoples Unity President Hidayat Ullah said, "We will lock down PIA Headquarter if the acting CEO was chosen from Cyan's remnants".
While talking to this scribe, he said that employees were out to save PIA and those involved in ruining airline will never be accepted as CEO.
He claimed, "We have come to know through reliable sources that BoD members were going to appoint Bilal Munir Sheikh or Asma Bajwa as Acting CEO but we will not let them do it".
Senior Staff Association (SSA) President Safdar Anjum said all Musharraf Rasool's team members were accused in petition under which Musharraf was terminated.
He said that technically all of them have been sacked since Chief Justice of Pakistan in its decision said that petition has been 'allowed' which means relief is given to petitioner.
He said, "We have filed petition against appointment of Musharraf Rasool Cyan, former CEO, Bilal Munir Sheikh, Chief Finance Officer (CFO), Zia Qadir Qreshi Chief Operating Officer (COO), Asma Bajwa Chief Human Resource Officer (CHRO) and Rana Kashif Chief System Officer (CSO).
Meeting of the BoD was convened on Tuesday to finalise the name of Acting CEO of the airline after the Supreme Court terminated the services of Musharraf Rasool Cyan on Monday.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday annulled the appointment of PIA CEO Dr Cyan on the basis that his appointment did not adhere to regulatory and appointment procedures requirements. He had no abilities for running the airline affairs and hence incurred colossal loss for National Airline besides having personal emoluments more than Rs2.5 million a month along with his other supportive contractual employees earning up to Rs1.5 million per month salaries. Amongst whom are CSO Rana Kashif, CHRO Asma Bajawa and CCO Bilal Muneer are prominent.
On Tuesday a special, hurriedly called, session of board was convened at PIA Headoffice to decide on new CEO with new chairman/secretary aviation in chair however it could not decide on matter of new CEO.
By SECP rules it is incumbent on board to decide on CEO's appointment or to assign Acting CEO on emergent basis.
Bureaucracy that is inclined towards other contractual employees over commercial aviation professional readily available in airline.
Political involvement remained main cause behind heavy losses of the airline.
In the last government advisers to PM on Aviation Shujaat Azeem and Sardar Mehtab Abbasi were all in all in the matters of PIA.
They misused their positions and appointed their blue eyed inexperienced officers in PIA to play havoc with airline.
Now in PTI government another adviser to PM who is relative of Ijaz Munir former secretary aviation is backing Musharraf Rasool and his team.
Imran Khan's government seems least interested in matters of aviation since it was big losses ridden department which needed more attention of the government after take over.
The PIA officers were expecting that new government immediately after taking over the charge would terminate the services of top inexperienced officers of the airline and would replace them with experienced and seasoned ones. But it was done by CJP and some bureaucrats in federal capital were struggling to continue the old practices in future also and government is unmoved so far.
