LAHORE – After transferring officials backed by PIA’s employees union Peoples Unity (CBA) from passengers handling section, national flag carrier has started earning billions of rupees in the head of Excess Baggage and saving of millions through transit flights expense, said well-placed sources in the airlines on Friday.
Sources disclosed that during five years CBA union appointed its officials in passengers handling section who earned a lot by loading excess baggage of passengers on flights and caused huge losses to the airlines. Charges of excess baggage were not recorded and deposited in airlines account. These officials deposited less than Rs5 million every month in PIA account. But now after their transfer and deploying new ones in concerned section, per month revenue has crossed Rs12 million which reflects that more than Rs 7 million were being embezzled in just one section every month. An officer of PIA seeking anonymity said that from the day the CBA came into power this practice was continued and above mentioned statistics were of Lahore station only. Karachi, Islamabad, Peshawar and other international airports of the country were apart from this.  During last month, PIA earned Rs 12.2 million in this regard and it was record revenue within last eight years.
In another head of transit flight, PIA was supposed to provide hotel facility to all passengers of a flight but some of passengers like to stay with their relatives rather than hotels. However, these corrupt officials always showed that all passengers have been accommodated in hotels by preparing fake hotel vouchers. In this regard, PIA was paying Rs6-7 million to different hotels but after the transfer of specific staff, this expense has been reduced to less than Rs2 million per month.
Credit goes to a newly-appointed Director Customers Services PIA, Ijaz Mazhar who transferred CBA-backed employees from lucrative posts at the cost of his life. It is pertinent to note that he received life threats by CBA workers when he issued orders for their transfers. A PIA senior officer said that when last month said director visited Lahore for inspection, CBA workers held protest demonstration over his decision. But he remained unmoved and in his address to employees he encouraged them and asked them to continue their fair job. Ijaz ordered to transfer Shehzad Butt, Muhamamd Waheed, Zulfiqar Daar, Shehzad Bhatti, Kashif Rana and Tariq Gulzar from Passengers Handling section and appointed honest officials to earn revenue for airline.
Meanwhile, certain hotels involved in corrupt practices were also blacklisted from the panel of airline including Hotel Heaven, Continental Inn, Comfort Inn and Sprout court. CBA had also introduced manual roaster system in flight service by setting aside the auto roaster system only to oblige its workers to avail more and more flights out of the way. Mazhar also resumed the auto roaster system to run the business on merit. Those who were availing flights on the recommendation of CBA were not performing duty heartedly but they got themselves involved in smuggling of mobiles and cigarettes on European flights.