ISLAMABAD - PIA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Air Marshal Arshad Malik Thursday expressed confidence that the national flag carrier would be flying out its wings to Europe in the first quarter of 2022 after getting due clearance by the international aviation sector auditor.
“I think by next year, in first quarter, we should be able to fly out our wings to Europe and the ban should be lifted,” he said in an interview with renowned blogger Sam Chui, who is currently in Pakistan as a special guest of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).
The CEO said the PIA had sorted out its in-house affairs and brought significant improvement in safety and quality standards, which were duly checked by the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority before the visit of IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) team.
In the audit, he said, “We were able to clear and cross that hurdle (safety and quality standards) with outstanding remarks.” The IATA (International Air Transport Association), he added, had recently completed its audit, which had not yet shared its findings with Pakistan. However, there were ‘very positive’ indications and acknowledgment for improvement in Pakistan’s aviation sector. Answering a question, Arshad Malik said the PIA had a glorious past, but the political interventions by the last governments had badly affected its performance.
Unfortunately, the political intervention had been happening for about two decades, which made the people (at the helm of affairs) stronger rather than the organization. “The people started to merge together in associations and in unions, and they were trying to manipulate and they were trying to control the organization. “Over a period of time because of these interventions, we had lost merit-oriented decisions. We were also not taking commercial-based decisions. We were being dictated upon. Once all these things were going on, naturally, your performance indicators started to go down,” he remarked.
Explaining the corrective measures he took after taking charge as CEO in 2019, he said despite all the odds “we managed, organized and orientated, and groomed ourselves into a commercial aviation.”
By the grace of Allah Almighty and with the assistance of PIA team, he said the organization started producing good results, and it [2019) was probably after a period of almost 10-12 years the national flag carrier came into operating profit.
He said the PIA also effectively overcame the challenge it faced in the wake of coronavirus pandemic during which all aviation and hospitality sectors suffered a lot.
Then there was another challenge whereby an international observation came about the licences of PIA pilots, issued by the PCAA, leading to blockade of European routes, stay of interline and agreements, he added. “But we managed these things and showed resolve to come out of this crisis,” he said. The PIA management decided to face it “with reality” and grounded all those pilots who came under suspicion. All the relevant data evaluated, which proved that only a handful pilots had suspicious licences.
He said the PIA was not at fault as “it was the regulatory authority whose matters have to be resolved and brought up to the better standards.”
Sam Chui, a reputed international travel and aviation blogger arrived in Pakistan in the first fortnight of December as a ‘special guest’ of PIA to film the services being provided by it to the passengers; and the scenic beauty of the country’s northern parts. Sam Chui’s videos relating to the aviation industry and airlines have the viewership of over 600 million. Almost all the major aircraft manufacturing companies have hired his services for critical review of their newly-built planes.