Pakistan plans to split ailing national flag carrier PIA into two companies and sell control of the core business to a global airline over the next 18 months, but political opposition to the sell-off will be intense, the country’s privatization czar said.
Financial advisers are now in talks with several airlines about taking over cash-strapped Pakistan International Airlines, which has some 17,000 employees but just 36 aircraft – and 10 of them are grounded due to a lack of spare parts.
Once a source of pride for the country, PIA’s decay has made it the butt of jokes, one of which goes that its initials actually stand for ‘Perhaps I’ll Arrive’.
Flights are regularly cancelled and engineers say they have to cannibalize some planes to keep others flying.
Last year a PIA pilot was jailed in the United Kingdom for being three times over the alcohol limit before he was due to fly. Pakistani media reported that another pilot delayed a New York-bound flight for more than two hours as he waited for a sandwich delivery.
Over the years, critics say, governments have manipulated state corporations like PIA for political and financial gain, giving jobs to so many supporters that the size of the workforce has become unsustainable in the face of mounting losses.
