Downfall of Pakistan International Airline
Little known reasons for the downfall of PIA
The back-breaking causes of fall, apart from four lethal air crashes during the last 30 years that include Kathmandu A-300, Multan Fokker, Hevellian ATR-42 and Karachi A-320, another list of five completely scrapped aircraft during last 10 years includes, BHJ (ATR-42) aircraft landed off the runway during cross-wind landing at Lahore and declared scrapped, BHP (ATR) skidded off the runway at Gilgit and scrapped, and BKW (bigger version ATR of 72 seats) became out of control of Engineering personnel during Engine Testing and scrapped.
Strangely, one BHN (ATR-42) aircraft has been dismantled to provide parts to other aircraft due to shortage of parts owing to procurement procedures intricacies. For imagining the loss, a smaller ATR-42’s market price is around 15 Million US$ and an ATR-72 price is around 25 Million US$.
Further, 98% of PIA Aircraft Engineers are Not Graduate Engineers. They are Apprentice Mechanics who got certifications through technical courses and recognized by Civil Aviation as aircraft engineers. 75% of employees have got their children employed in PIA. Even, a few have got all of their children employed in PIA.
The biggest loss to PIA is that high yield ethnic Pakistanis of North America and Europe have started travelling by Gulf airlines and biggest advantage PIA has is direct flight option
Its time to recognize the irreparable damage by prolonged confines of Public Procurement Rules since 2004 that proved to be 2nd nationalization and broke the backbone of the spirit of sourcing and supplies and wreaked havoc with the serviceability of aircraft, airport equipment and onboard supplies.
These rules have limited the supplier numbers and have given the selected ones so much of leverage, they go and seek stay orders at will and hardly leave PIA. These rules should be simplified to the extent of open bidding and sufficient Bidding Time by amending PIAC Act and nothing more. In the interim, the purchasing department must be de-centralized into engineering purchase, catering purchase and airport handling purchase for prioritized supplies.