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History of Pakistan Aviation
Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority also known as “PCAA” is a government level organization. All the regulatory aspects and decision making is done by the Secretary to the Government of Pakistan for Aviation. PCAA is a member organization of the International Civil Aviation Organization. Headquarter of PCAA is sited at Jinnah International Airport Pakistan at Terminal No. 1.
Civilian airports all over the country are under the direct control of PCAA and they control all the operations. Air safety inspection and investigation of any incidence are run by Safety Investigation Board (SIB) after prior approval by the Federal Government.
Pakistan air zone is divided into two flight information regions.
- Flight Information Region Karachi
- Flight Information Region Lahore
PCAA has multiple roles to perform related to aviation controls. They are not only limited to the regulation of aviation. Main roles of PCAA are following
- Regulation of Aviation
- Airport Services
- Air Navigation Services
Major Airlines of Pakistan
Major airlines of Pakistan which are under control of Civil Aviation are
- Pakistan International Airlines
- Air Blue
- Serene Air
- Askari Airlines (Chartered Airline)
- ASSL (Chartered Airline)
- Princely Jets (Chartered Airline)
- TCS Couriers
Is PIA Dangerous to fly?
Yes, this is the question which comes in mind when you are thinking of flying with Pakistan International Airline. There was a time when PIA is recognized all over the world as a quality airline and safer than others. But gradually as time passes PIA losses its quality services and become a dangerous airline.
PIA has faced many incidences of plane crash and emergency landing due to technical errors in air planes or due to mistakes by pilots or air traffic controllers.
22nd May, 2020 PIA Airbus A320 crashed
Recently on 22nd May, 2020 PIA Airbus A320 crashed near Jinnah International Airport Karachi just 1-2 minutes before landing. More than 100 people died in the incident only two passengers survived in this horrifying plane crash. Investigation is in process to find the pinpoint that results in this brutal crash.
Airbus manufacturing company has also sent their investigation team to find the main reason of crash as there are news’s circulating that Airbus A320 engines stop working just before landing results in this incidence. Investigation results will show who is responsible for this crash.
There are many airplane crash incidences in the history of PIA. And many precious lives have been lost in these crashes.
Let’s discuss some important points about PIA current status, Issues, Improvements, and future of the airline.
Non Serious Attitude of PIA Management
The major reason for the downfall of the PIA is the non-serious attitude of their management and senior-level employees. Everyone is not free to take decisions of their own.
“Right Person for the Right Job” this is the line of action if you want to run any institute, department, or organization successfully.
But in the case of PIA, there is no right person for any job. Everyone is hired on a political basis without any prior assessment of that person. All educated and field related persons are side lined and uneducated and non-relevant people are working and they ruined PIA internationally.
Pakistan’s government is also not seemed interested in growing PIA as a profitable institute of Pakistan. There is no modified policy for the betterment of PIA.
Staff working in Pakistan International Airline is too much in quantity as compared to the required one. Downsizing is much needed at that time when airlines are already affected by the COVID-19 outbreak worldwide. If downsizing is not done it will also be a burden on the Government of Pakistan.
Along with downsizing, hiring of professional and trained staff is necessary to manage the operations wisely and to overlook the reasons for technical and mechanical errors in PIA aircraft.
Customer Satisfaction
Customer satisfaction is compulsory for running a successful business. In every situation, customer confidence should not get loosed otherwise the result is the downfall of the organization or institute.
PIA loss customer confidence by providing poor services.
Delay in Flights: Fluctuation in timing and unannounced delay is flights are the main reason for loss of customer satisfaction. Not one or two times it happens many times and currently happening. To avoid this frustration customers skip PIA and choose other private airlines for quality services.
Cancellation of Flights: If flight canceled without any emergency condition it will create too much inconvenience for passengers. PIA cancel any flights due to lack of planes or other technical reasons which create annoying situation and customer didn’t rely on PIA anymore.
Poor Catering Service: Catering service provided by PIA especially in economy class is not up to standards of food safety. Many times issues were found in food provided to passengers. Sometimes there are pest issues in foods and sometimes deterioration or food spoilage issues raised by passengers.
Plane Crash and Emergency Landings: In PIA history there were many cases of plane crash resulting in the death of hundreds of passengers. Emergency landings were also done by PIA aircrafts many times. This creates fear in passengers and they prefer quality services over price issues.
- Showing Some Improvement
In the end of 2019 CEO of Pakistan International Airlines said that airline shows improvement in revenue and all other factors. There is an increase of 5 % in seat factor and 40% boost in revenue and airline schedule reliability also improved up to 90%.
He said airlines started showing improvement signs in minor time periods but this is not limited to this. There are further tasks which are necessary to achieve for more improvements and to compete with all other airlines.
Highlighting the improvement points, he said the cargo capacity of airlines has increased from 20% to 80%. Furthermore, airlines also enhance its engineering department capabilities and now the maintenance of crafts and line maintenance is done at Islamabad and Lahore airports.
Before the Covid-19 outbreak in November last year, PIA has increased its flights to Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Qatar to improve its capabilities in the aviation sector.
Actions Taken To Improve PIA
In was informed by the concerned authorities that action has been taken to improve the PIA overall service. It was informed to the assembly by the minister of Parliamentary Affairs that gross profit of PIA 2.83 billion in the first quarter of the year.
18 latest fuel-efficient aircraft are added in the fleet to improve the profit ratio by low consumption of fuel. Service on route to London has been started with an overwhelming response by the passengers. A-330-300 aircraft are purchased from Sri Lankan airlines to compete with the uprising demand of passengers.
He said by adding more aircraft to the fleet, the service of airlines has improved by fewer cases in delay and cancellation of national and international flights.
Cabin crew training centers have been developed in various cities of the country: Quetta, Rawalpindi, Swat, Lahore, Nawabshah, and Karachi.
- Good Things about PIA
PIA manages its passenger load with a fleet of 35 aircraft. These are good numbers to manage the load and to compete with others.
PIA has landing rights to all main airports of the world while other airlines have to struggle hard to get their slots for landing on big International airports. If PIA increases the number of fleet then they can land on all airports where they currently not landing.
Major flights of PIA are in Gulf countries and the Middle East where they have to compete with the big giants with heavy pockets. As PIA is improving its services, it also improves its position among the main airlines of the site.
- Privatization of PIA
Due to bad economic conditions and less revenue generation Government of Pakistan was thinking to privatize the National Airline. But its privatization will lead to many changes at the government level and businessman community also gets affected by this.
All businessmen community of Pakistan and Government officials use PIA for traveling in-country and worldwide. Privatization may affect this and they will not get any benefit, VIP protocol for using national airlines. Everyone will be treated the same by the private company o aviation authority.
Keeping in mind these consequences, privatization of Pakistan International Airline was put on a hold and now it’s seemed that airline is improving and generating profit for the country.
So, we can draw a conclusion from all the points discussed that Pakistan aviation is safer to travel with and there is no issue with the safety of passengers. If some changes have been made at the management level, it will be a more profitable institute of the country.
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