Year 2011, thus far, has turned out to be quite a nightmare for the national carrier. Bad news has followed the state-run airline like a plague. Whereas earlier this year stories circulated about union politics and passenger inconvenience vis-a-vis flight delays, the current round of news can cause grave consequences for the unsuspecting passengers who choose to fly PIA.
Recently, two twin turboprop aircraft of the airline had to make emergency landings at Jinnah International Airport on the same day after each of the planes' engines failed. One was an international flight bound to Muscat via Turbat while the other was domestic coming from Panjgur to Karachi.
Recently, two twin turboprop aircraft of the airline had to make emergency landings at Jinnah International Airport on the same day after each of the planes' engines failed. One was an international flight bound to Muscat via Turbat while the other was domestic coming from Panjgur to Karachi.
This was not a rare incident of a technical problem faced by a PIA plane. Multiple reports published last month highlighted incidents where technical faults in the aircraft led to either delayed flights or airborne planes making unscheduled landings. In fact, mere days after these two aircraft engines malfunctioned on 3rd September, another PIA flight to Delhi had to return back to Karachi because of yet another technical issue.
PIA's recent record for plane safety has been shambolic to say the least. So much so, only in March 2007, it faced a ban on its European routes by the European Union, which cleared only seven of its Boeing 777 aircraft to operate. The remaining 35 planes did not pass the security requirements and were banned from entering the European airspace.
Even though this decision had been preceded by a warning from the EU a year earlier, the management of PIA and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) failed to ensure the carrier's fleet met the security requirements. The ban, however, was temporary and was lifted in November 2007, after PIA refurbished its aircraft to meet the EU security standards. But it did cause a significant damage to the airline's reputation and left it scrambling for aircraft on wet lease to support its operations in the region.
Today history seems to be on the verge of repeating itself. The airline is now facing the grim prospects of another ban by the EU after one of its planes was detained in Paris by French Civil Aviation Authority (FCAA) last month. The PIA Airbus A310 was en route to Pakistan from Milan. When it made a stopover at Charles de Gualle Airport in Paris, the aviation authorities ran a standard checking procedure and found at least 39 technical problems with the plane, including fuel leakage from its engine. An emergency evacuation was ordered but it took the flight crew 20 minutes to get all passengers off the plane, which itself was negligence on part of the staff as the SOP requires a much shorter evacuation time duration.
The FCAA added this delay in evacuation to the list of snags in its director's letter to CAA later in the month, asking for details of rectifications of issues found by the FCAA. The reply, which was due on September 7, will determine whether the FCAA feels it has enough facts to ban the airline from operating in the EU or not.
Pakistan's national airline has been a source of controversy for a long time. Union strikes, delayed flights, and unfriendly and unaccommodating staff have almost become its accepted feature. On top of it, the losses it costs to the national exchequer are staggering. The airline suffered a whopping net loss of Rs 20.785 billion in 2010. This was in stark contrast to the losses suffered in 2009 at Rs 4.947 billion. With 450 employees per aircraft in 2010, the highest in the world, it is not a surprise that the airline is bleeding money from every nook. The tragedy is this superfluous amount is allocated for everything but ensuring safety of the passengers - the paramount duty of any airline carrier. This attitude calls for serious reflection and official inquiries into the state of the airline's affairs. Unsuspecting passengers trust the national airline to keep their safety the highest priority.
But unfortunately, reports in some newspapers, quoting inside sources, say that tight schedules leave little time for a thorough inspection of each plane, which casts dark clouds on the airline's safety credibility. The national carrier needs to pull its acts together before it is too late and focus on ensuring the best security standards of its aircraft. The nation can overlook bad service and low quality food, but any fatal accident due to its negligence will be unacceptable. The blame for such an incident will solely lie at PIA and CAA's doorstep for ignoring blatant warnings for so long.
Even though this decision had been preceded by a warning from the EU a year earlier, the management of PIA and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) failed to ensure the carrier's fleet met the security requirements. The ban, however, was temporary and was lifted in November 2007, after PIA refurbished its aircraft to meet the EU security standards. But it did cause a significant damage to the airline's reputation and left it scrambling for aircraft on wet lease to support its operations in the region.
Today history seems to be on the verge of repeating itself. The airline is now facing the grim prospects of another ban by the EU after one of its planes was detained in Paris by French Civil Aviation Authority (FCAA) last month. The PIA Airbus A310 was en route to Pakistan from Milan. When it made a stopover at Charles de Gualle Airport in Paris, the aviation authorities ran a standard checking procedure and found at least 39 technical problems with the plane, including fuel leakage from its engine. An emergency evacuation was ordered but it took the flight crew 20 minutes to get all passengers off the plane, which itself was negligence on part of the staff as the SOP requires a much shorter evacuation time duration.
The FCAA added this delay in evacuation to the list of snags in its director's letter to CAA later in the month, asking for details of rectifications of issues found by the FCAA. The reply, which was due on September 7, will determine whether the FCAA feels it has enough facts to ban the airline from operating in the EU or not.
Pakistan's national airline has been a source of controversy for a long time. Union strikes, delayed flights, and unfriendly and unaccommodating staff have almost become its accepted feature. On top of it, the losses it costs to the national exchequer are staggering. The airline suffered a whopping net loss of Rs 20.785 billion in 2010. This was in stark contrast to the losses suffered in 2009 at Rs 4.947 billion. With 450 employees per aircraft in 2010, the highest in the world, it is not a surprise that the airline is bleeding money from every nook. The tragedy is this superfluous amount is allocated for everything but ensuring safety of the passengers - the paramount duty of any airline carrier. This attitude calls for serious reflection and official inquiries into the state of the airline's affairs. Unsuspecting passengers trust the national airline to keep their safety the highest priority.
But unfortunately, reports in some newspapers, quoting inside sources, say that tight schedules leave little time for a thorough inspection of each plane, which casts dark clouds on the airline's safety credibility. The national carrier needs to pull its acts together before it is too late and focus on ensuring the best security standards of its aircraft. The nation can overlook bad service and low quality food, but any fatal accident due to its negligence will be unacceptable. The blame for such an incident will solely lie at PIA and CAA's doorstep for ignoring blatant warnings for so long.
A slightly modified version appeared in Business Recorder (13 September 2011).
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