ISLAMABAD: The representatives of CBA representing Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) employees have called on Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and shared their concerns regarding the promulgation of PIA Coproratization Ordinance .
According to a ministry statement, they stressed that the government should not take any step which is detrimental to the job security of PIA employees.
Speaking on the occasion, the Finance Minister assured the employee representatives that their apprehensions were based on misunderstandings and confusion created by certain vested interests.
He stated that the government was pursuing the vision of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, which was to raise PIA, once again, to the status of a top international airline. He stated that the Ordinance to transform PIA from a statutory organization into a corporate entity had been issued to grant maximum autonomy to the PIA management and enable it to independently take its decisions rather than look up to the government for all sorts of approvals.
He stated that the Ordinance would facilitate the smooth functioning of the airline making it completely independent of the bureaucratic control.
The decision making process will be much faster and the benefits will be seen by the employees. He assured the employees that the Ordinance had not altered their terms of service nor their rights with regard to their employer.
He emphasized that those establishing a link between the Ordinance and privatization were wrong, because corporatization is not a must for privatisation and statutory organizations could be privatized as well. The finance minister said that under the directions of the Prime Minister, the present management had brought about a number of improvements in PIA.
The Airline has a much bigger fleet compared to early 2013. The services have also been improved a great deal.
However, further improvements in fleet, technology and services require injection of capital. For that purpose the government was looking for a strategic partner who would be ready to work with the government to take the Airline to the desired standard. The strategic partner would be offered a stake in the Airline. However, the government is committed to maintain majority share holding in the company. The government is also determined to ensure full transparency in the selection of the strategic partner.
