ISLAMABAD – The trend of appointing officials from the technical departments at key managerial posts continues in the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) despite looming concerns over Pakistan’s deteriorating air safety standards.
Looked not to have drawn any lessons from the Bhoja Air crash incident to improve air safety and flight operations standards, the authority has assigned the administrative responsibilities at crucial posts to some senior officers of the Air Traffic Control (ATC) branch, it is learnt.
Regarded as the major technical arm in aviation industry, the ATC branch, being the most important air traffic component, directly oversees the flight operations involving boarding, taking-off and landing of planes at respective airports across the globe. Reshuffling its officials out of politically motivated reasons or favouritism outside their job description invites greater risks of technical lapses, informed officials believed.
According to the details, the CAA on Tuesday purportedly ordered to appoint Taimur Asghar, a serving Air Traffic Control Officer (ATCO) as Airport Manager (APM) or administrative head at Allama Iqbal International Airport (AIIA) Lahore. Taimur was previously working as an Active ATCO at the Radar Tower at Benazir Bhutto International Airport (BBIA) Islamabad. This move has raised eyebrows in the pertinent CAA circles since Taimur Asghar’s relevant expertise were required in the ATC branch at Pakistan’s most important airport-BBIA. He is also considered not to be a suitable candidate for getting a lucrative administrative appointment at an airport as important as AIIA on account of the seniority factor. Several officers of Airport Services (AS), the CAA’s managerial wing, are much senior and far more experienced in the airport management than the ATC officer.  As administrative head at AIIA, the officer would supervise the working of several of those officers who stand way above him in the authority’s seniority list, reportedly.
“This (Taimur’s new appointment) doesn’t make sense since there are several competent and experienced AS officers who deserve appointments as airport managers and awaiting due promotions,” officials commented.  The CAA sources said, the practice of appointing ATCOs at administrative posts saw an evident rise a few days after Bhoja Air crash incident, following the appointment of Yousuf Abbas, another ATCO, as the CAA’s Human Resource (HR) Chief in May this year. Soon after taking charge, Abbas is reported to have followed the trend of getting certain officers of the Air Traffic Control appointed at the lucrative posts outside their respective experiences.
The director general CAA’s Personal Staff Officer (PSO) Naeem Rashid is also an ATC official who got important assignment in the DG office when he was serving as an Active ATCO.
The APM at BBIA Islamabad Ishfaq Hussain too is included among those officers who belong to the ATC department but are heading managerial posts. He was appointed as the Airport Manager at BBIA some days before Bhoja Air tragedy had taken place.
The CAA Spokesperson however defended the move of appointing ATCs at administrative slots. “This helps in improving efficiency to a great deal because ATCOs are technical officials who have in-depth knowledge of the technicalities involving flight operations and air safety standards. Getting them appointed at administrative posts brings along a combination of administrative and technical expertise,” Pervaiz George told The Nation, when approached on Wednesday. “The ATCOs can better tackle any untoward situation emanating out of a technical hitch or related lapse. They are trained to work in tough and challenging conditions.”     
On the other hand, officials said, handing the reigns of BBIA and AIIA administrations to any department other than the AS was a risky affair as well as the violation of CAA’s Restructuring Policy exercised by the authority’s incumbent DG. The policy envisages appointments of officials concerned in their respective fields. “The BBIA and AIIA are two most important airports. A maximum number of VIPs including foreign dignitaries, ruling elites, politicians as well as general public lands here. There is no room for taking risks by means of appointing irrelevant people,” they said.
On this, George said, the authority was cognisant of the situation. “We’re fully aware of the sensitivities involving our leading international airports. That’s why competent people are appointed who can deliver better than others.”