JEDDAH, 20 September — The national flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), is all set to fly to new destinations and expand its operations in an overhaul facilitated by its largest ever one-time fleet expansion, said the managing director of the airline, Ahmed Saeed, who was in the Kingdom for Umrah recently.
The airline also plans to cater to emerging market needs and fight back foreign airlines that have taken away a large number of its customers.
Saeed said the PIA after acquiring new fleet will start operations to Mashhad, Nairobi, Kenya and to Houston, Chicago and Los Angeles in the United States.
He said the PIA has taken up an ambitious fleet expansion program to be completed in 10 years to phase out its old planes and to give the airline a new look and enhance its profitability. He called it the airline’s largest expansion since it started flying.
The $1.45 billion fleet replacement plan will give 15 new long-range aircraft to the airline, out of that eight would be Boeing 777. The airline will also get four Airbus A310s on dry lease, Saeed said.
Reacting to the allegations that the PIA opted for Boeing under pressure from the government and the United States, the top PIA official said the decision to buy Boeing was taken after thorough deliberations and reviews at various level.
Saeed said Boeing is the best aircraft in the market endowed with the latest state-of-the-art technology, maximum sitting capacity, less fuel consumption and with the power to fly faster than any other aircraft.
Furthermore, “we have clinched a very good deal with Boeing. The manufacturer will sell us the plane at $100 million a piece, that is, $75 million less than the tagged price. And this price has been agreed upon for the aircraft we will receive in 2006,” Saeed said.
After the expansion is over the average age of the PIA planes would be around 10 years. At present the average age of PIA plane is about 20 years, he said.
Saeed said passengers safety is of paramount importance. And I can assure all PIA patrons that “it is one of our primary concerns and the PIA is as safe as any other world-class airline.”
Saeed was emphatic in saying that in the formulation of the fleet expansion plan he was given a free hand by the government and there was no interference or political pressure to influence his decision.
He further said this was perhaps one of the reasons that the airline which was in the red for quite some time has recovered and is stepping ahead to become a profitable entity. He said PIA, over the years, has been aware of its responsibilities as the nation’s flag carrier. It endeavors to act in a way that would serve the national interests.
Saeed who is a successful businessman was appointed managing director of PIA on June 6, 2001 and was given a challenging task to give the flagging airline a shot in the arm. When he took up his job with the PIA, pilots and crew were on strike. One of his first decisions was to suspend the union activities to streamline the functioning of the carrier.
He reminded that at the time of his appointment in June, 2001, the airline was incurring a loss of 750 million rupees. He brought it down to 400 million then it was reduced to 90 million in July last and by August-September, the PIA had achieved break-even.
That too, Saeed says “without retrenching anyone from among the 17,000 strong work force and 4,500 daily wages workers.”
“And over the next three months till December 2001, the airline recorded a profit of 400 million rupees. And with this I feel I have accomplished my task,” Saeed said. This year despite the 9/11 aftermath, PIA made a profit of one billion rupees till August, 2002, against a loss of two billion rupees in the corresponding period of 2001.
Besides, the PIA got more than 20 billion rupees in the form of equity and loans. He said the airline will make about 20 percent yearly profit on equities.
Under his ambitious scheme of things Saeed has invited specialists to take over important department of the airline. He said: “We will send our requirement to professional groups and universities and they will screen, interview and shortlist persons for top positions.
The airline will hire persons from the list given by these groups,” Saeed said.
Initially, about 25 persons will be hired at the salary and perks existing in the open market. Saeed said: “These top-level professionals will be paid salaries and perks on a par with private sector, depending upon their merit and suitability for the airline.”
Saeed has brought some drastic changes in PIA functioning. PIA’s finance department is one of them which has been out-sourced under his scheme of things. He said contracts have been finalized with world’s leading accounts and auditing firms to oversee financial aspect of the airline.
To provide maximum services and facilities to the travelers, Saeed said the airline’s information system department has been further upgraded, new functions and applications are being adopted with a rapid pace. The reservation network is being further upgraded to provide a direct link to domestic as well as international travel agencies, he said.
Speaking about the impact of the military standoff between India and Pakistan and its effect on the PIA, Saeed said: “PIA also suffered loss due to a ban on flight over the Indian sky. But not much, it affected only seven percent of our operations.”
About Umrah and Haj operation, the top airline official said: “Modern computerized facilities were being provided at all the Haj camps in Pakistan in order to facilitate speedy handling of ticketing and check-in services to pilgrims.”
“PIA will lift some 10,000 more Haj pilgrims this year. Last year the PIA carried about 1,00,000 pilgrims,” he said.
Furthermore, 72,000 Umrah travelers have already been processed of which 40,000 have already arrived in the Kingdom. There will not be any hike in Haj fares, Saeed said.
