KARACHI: Domestic airline pilots were disqualified by chairman of shipping company. Miseries created by bunch of bureaucrats called “Jack of all trades, master of none”, and result is that national airlines were banned in most parts of aviation world facing loss of billions of dollars in exchequer for country.

PIA was added to EU Air Safety List by European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in July 2020, meaning airline was suspended from operating in European Union and crash of PIA PK8303 in Karachi. PIA landed in hot water with subsequent announcement by then Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan of grounding of 262 airline pilots suspected of dodging their exams.Intriguing part of this episode was so-called independent Fact Finding Committee/Bard of Inquiry constituted on December 28, 2018 by Secretary Aviation Division and DG CAA for re-verification of fake degrees of pilots was not comprised of even single on-the-job or retired holder of Airline Transport Pilot Licence and Commercial Pilot Licenses which inflated scandal unnecessarily. 

Rizwan Ahmed (convener), Chairman Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) BPS-22, Shakeel Ahmed Mangnejo (member), CEO, Pakistan Reinsurance Company Ltd. (PRCL) BPS-20, Khurram Mirza (member) Executive Director (SP & Planning) PNSC, Naveed Shoaib (member), IT Forensics Expert (Private Sector) and Air Commodore Syed Nasir Raza Hamdani (Departmental Rep), Director SQMS PCAA. Since then Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan has been frequently meeting with European Commission in Brussels, Belgium to discuss potential removal of flight ban on national flag carrier Pakistan International Airlines. Last negotiations took place on October 25, 2022, by delegation of Pakistan CAA, which included deputy director general as well as other leaders of authority. Pakistan regulator aimed to highlight work done to pass an International Civil Aviation Organiation audit, in hope that its airlines will regain permission to fly.

However, according to reports, European Commission will visit Pakistan in 2023 to review steps taken.  Pilot license scandal erupted following preliminary report into PK8303 crash, which killed 97 people on May 22, 2020. Both United States and United Kingdom followed Europe’s example and banned airline from operating in their airspace. PIA CEO Arshad Malik on eve of his retirement in February this year stated that those who had conducted an inquiry against PIA pilots and declared hundreds of them with dubious licenses were responsible for EU ban on PIA, which led to heavy losses for national carrier. Malik questioned CAA’s priorities regarding national airline, complaining that authority “does not give priority to PIA”.

“Gulf countries also don’t give us slots and we have to explore other destinations,” he said. European Union Aviation Safety Agency said it would conduct its own evaluation before allowing resumption of flights from Pakistan.  Ghulam Sarwar Khan furnishing before National Assembly preliminary report on May 22 Pakistan International Airlines plane crash had claimed that 40 percent of country’s pilots held “fake licenses”. He later said that 262 airlines’ pilots falsified their credentials and of them, 141 belonged to PIA, nine from Air Blue and 10 from Serene Air. Remaining pilots were affiliated with flying clubs, chartered plane services, or foreign airlines, he said. CAA suspended licenses of only 34 pilots of PIA and issued them a show-cause notice.

Published in The Daily National Courier, November, 30 2022

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