Shifting PIA offices

Jan 2, 2021 | News

THIS is with reference to the news report ‘PIA moving head offices to Islamabad next month’ (Dec 21). The shifting is to be completed in phases ending March 2021. There is also talk of shifting the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry to Islamabad....

PIA’s ongoing woes

Jan 1, 2021 | News

THE disastrous consequences of the Civil Aviation Authority’s cavalier approach towards its core regulatory duties, particularly where the national flag carrier is concerned, are continuing to play out. Only last Friday, Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan expressed...

Travel ban hits aviation sector

Jan 1, 2021 | News

ISLAMABAD: As the coronavirus outbreak made headlines, countries across the globe initiated lockdowns and suspended international air travel in 2020 in a bid to curb the spread of the virus, delivering a heavy blow to the aviation industry. In the aftermath of the...

2,000 employees have applied for voluntary separation: PIA

Jan 1, 2021 | News

RAWALPINDI / ISLAMABAD: With the sun setting on the tumultuous year of 2020 on Thursday, the management of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) closed its Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) and began tallying the total number of employees availing the facility and...

SITUATIONER: SPARKS FLY IN PIA

Dec 31, 2020 | News

AMID a sense of fear and insecurity that has prevailed among thousands of employees, the Pakistan International Airlines’ (PIA) management is moving forward with its plan to cut the existing workforce by half and shift the head office of the national flag carrier from...

Can capital manage the white elephant?

Dec 31, 2020 | News

THIS refers to the news item ‘PIA moving head offices to Islamabad next month’ (Dec 21). One is at a loss to comprehend the reason for this and the circumstances that motivated the people at the helm of affairs to contemplate shifting the PIA head offices to...

PIA forms body to probe irregularities in recruitment

Dec 31, 2020 | News

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Wednesday constituted a four-member team to investigate irregularities in the recruitment of daily wage employees in the previous tenures. The team will be headed by GM HR Wing Commander Kamran Anjum. According...

PIA offers EASA to restrict EU operations to limited pilots

Dec 29, 2020 | News

KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is consistently beguiling the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) with some impetuous offers to get permitted for EU operations again as the airline has now offered to restrict its EU operations to limited pilots, who...

PIA’s restructuring

Dec 29, 2020 | News

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is moving its head offices, in phases, to Islamabad. Besides this, the PIA management is planning to curtail different expenses incurred under the head of medical facilities given to employees, which the management calls a huge...

EU Ban

Dec 28, 2020 | News

Just as the Aviation Minister expressed high hopes for the lifting of the EU ban for PIA, the body itself has announced plans to extend it by another three months, at least until further inspection by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). In the end, what we see is a...

CAA DG appointment challenged in high court

Dec 27, 2020 | News

LAHORE: The appointment of retired Flt Lt Khaqan Murtaza as director general of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has been challenged before the Lahore High Court. A citizen namely Mian Khurram Aftab assailed the appointment of the DG in a petition filed through...

EU ban won’t be lifted before CAA audit, PIA told

Dec 27, 2020 | News

KARACHI: A day after Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan expressed hopes that the ban imposed on Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to operate flights in Europe would be lifted soon, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) informed the national flag...

European ban on PIA likely to be lifted soon: minister

Dec 26, 2020 | News

TAXILA: Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan has said that most concerns of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) regarding process of issuing licences to commercial pilots have been addressed and it is hoped the ban imposed on Pakistan International...

PM wants NA speaker to immediately accept resignations

Dec 25, 2020 | News

ISLAMABAD: Prime Mi­­nister Imran Khan, during a meeting with a group of his spokespersons on Thursday, said the government would ask the National Assembly speaker to immediately accept resignations of opposition parliamentarians, whenever they came. The prime...

Report on PIA jet crash based on assumptions: CAA

Dec 18, 2020 | News

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Board’s (AAIB’s) report on the December 2016 Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane crash near Havelian is based on assumptions and overlooks multiple technical details, stated a report submitted by the Civil...

CAA heaps blame on pilots for PIA Havelian crash

Dec 18, 2020 | News

KARACHI: The Civil Aviation Authority on Thursday questioned the credibility of Aircraft Accident and Investigation Board’s inquiry report into the PIA’s ATR crash at Havelian in the Sindh High Court, submitting that “AAIB report seems to be based on lots of...

PIA still top-heavy

Dec 17, 2020 | News

Will still have too many employees after VSS PIA aims to have about 7,000 to 8,000 employees after the current Voluntary Separation Scheme, down from the current count of 14,500 employees, which it currently has for 29 planes and plans to outsource certain functions...