Flying fiasco

The massive issue of licences obtained by Pakistan pilots, has taken a new twist. Weeks after Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan told parliament that 40 percent of the licences held by Pakistani pilots were fake (later changed to 'dubious') and had been wrongfully acquired, the director general of the CAA has written to senior officials in Oman’s aviation department stating that all licences were in fact genuine. This puts matters in a further state of uncertainty. After all, who are we expected to believe? The damage done by the aviation minister’s remarks has already been considerable with the European Union air safety body banning PIA’s planes from landing at airports within the EU. IATA has also expressed concerns over the safety of Pakistani licences as has the US which has banned Pakistani charter planes and said it is displeased with the safety records of pilots.

The DG of the CAA has now said in the letter obtained by the media that 94 out of 104 licences have already been checked and found to be valid and authentic. He has also said the CAA has confirmed this to the aviation authorities in several countries, especially those whose airlines employed Pakistani pilots. It is difficult to understand what went wrong and why the aviation minister chose to make a dramatic announcement in parliament without first verifying the facts. All that this has caused is massive disarray and a global loss of trust in the safety and reliability of PIA. The action taken by the EU and also several UK airports will undoubtedly damage the revenue of PIA, which is already struggling to remain afloat, and could bring it to its final downfall. There has been some conjecture over social media that the real purpose is to privatize PIA.

PALPA, the union of Pakistani pilots, has also said that the letter from the CAA confirms its own position that all commercial and transport licences belonging to pilots are in fact in good order and that these persons have cleared the required examination. While some questions still need to be answered, the most significant is why Ghulam Sarwar made his statement without prior discussions within the cabinet or with the CAA. The problem is that no matter how many letters are now written, the shadow over PIA will continue to hang. The airline can regain at least some of its former prestige only if this shadow is lifted and the aviation minister is able to explain on what he based the information threatening the jobs of scores of pilots that he gave out in public.