There are a plethora of issues which plague Pakistan CAA and airlines regulated by it, especially PIA, which like regulator is an SOE, run by mediocrity, with nepotism, political and bureaucratic interference, incompetence and allegations of financial and administrative indiscipline contributing to their decline. Damage has been done, the least would be to utilize this opportunity to cleanse the rot within.
Issues of lack of authenticity of Licences issued by regulator have been there for decades. CAA and those at helm are more to blame than pilots involved in irregularities. After all if CAA officials had performed their regulatory role as per ICAO rules, there would have been no issue of alleged fraudulence involved in Licences issued by them. As for PIA, irregularities in recruitment started in 1995 and between 2008 to 2014, they became a pandemic. Why has PIA not terminated services of all such employees who submitted fake degrees at time of initial induction, although Administration Rules clearly call for such punitive measures?
Vacancies were created in an already surplus organization by successive CEO/MD to benefit their next of kin or those related to political elite and retired officers from services. PIA was forced to establish Flying Academies so that their children could complete flight training requirements for CPL at the cost of airline. In one instance an MD got his three sons inducted as pilots. The irony is PIA has been used as jumping plank to get them Aircraft Type Ratings and then abandon it to join foreign airlines. There was PIA MD, who simultaneously was DG CAA.
Let some good come out of this.
G Zaman
Peshawar
