PLANS to restructure the national flag carrier have seen umpteenth aborted takeoffs. That, of course, is not to say this is not an objective worth pursuing — but such plans, if they are to see any prospect of success, must take an unforgiving view of the present situation and include measures to act accordingly. The government is looking to undertake what was a Herculean task even a decade ago, but which has become yet more onerous in recent years. Not only is PIA facing cumulative losses of Rs635bn by the end of September, its other troubles, too, have intensified. Pakistan’s aviation industry as a whole has not yet recovered from repercussions of then aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan’s shockingly cavalier remark in the National Assembly in June 2020 that almost 40pc of pilots in Pakistan have fake licences. Even though some irregularities were uncovered, his words later proved to be a gross distortion of facts — but PIA in particular was dealt a near-mortal blow. Is the high-level committee that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has formed to come up with a plan to revive PIA prepared to take the bull by the horns?

If so, the first, foundational step should be to set up a regulatory system in a professional manner, one that is manned by a competent, aviation-specific bureaucracy rather than individuals parachuted in from the air force or various government ministries. An independent, strong regulator — which is only concerned with safety regulations and the management of the airline — is critical to ensure that the operator is positioned to perform well. In the three years since Mr Sarwar took a wrecking ball to the industry, those at the helm of the CAA have not been able to raise standards to a point where international regulators would allow PIA to fly to Europe or the US. Questions about competence and airworthiness continue to dog the national airline and cloud its prospects of revival. It is high time systemic flaws were addressed, instead of applying band-aid solutions that have amounted to nothing over the years. Instead, the government could look towards the European Union Aviation Safety Agency: not only does it have very high standards, but it also has a fund to help developing countries set up their regulatory systems from top to bottom. It would be money well spent.

Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2023