*Karachi – The federal cabinet has approved a plan to divide PakistanInternational Airline (PIA) into two companies and has sent the summary toEconomic Coordination Committee for a few revisions, revealed InformationMinister Fawad Chaudhry.*
The initiative, which was discussed during a meeting of the cabinet theother day, has been taken to address the financial woes faced by thenational flag carrier.
As per details, the plan was earlier approved by former prime ministerNawaz Sharif. Pakistan International Airlines Corporation was then managedinto a company through legislation in 2015. However, the plan could not beexecuted then due to protests by opposition parties and PIA employees. Theyfeared that the move will probably lead to the privatization of the company.
Speaking to the private media outlet, Fawad said that the cabinet had inprinciple approved the plan to split the national carrier into twocompanies, but sent the summary to ECC again for a few changes.
He said the real problem of the PIA is its loan which caused an overallloss of Rs460 billion. He said the PIA’s aircraft-to-employee ratio is 450,which is the highest in the world.
He alleged that the previous governments of the PML-N and PPP had ruinedthe national institution by making political and unnecessary appointments.
Under the plan, the government has also decided to lay off half of its14,000 employees, replace some of its fleet, and permanently closeloss-making routes in a bid to become profitable for the first time in morethan a decade.
Earlier, a report released by PIA stated that it faced a net loss ofRs34.64 billion in the year ended December 2020 compared to a loss ofRs52.6 billion in 2019.